Inkinators S: The Splat Rangers
by TheSwimmingSquid
Summary: "Okay, here's the thing: I made a mistake. A big one. It's useless to justify it or closing an eye over the facts. You two are behind the bars, only because of my lack of comprehension. I had a bad day when we first met... and now, I'm going to make THEM see green Squids until they give me the congratulations. Come on Bars: let's play Splat-Your-Butt with our Octarian friends!"
1. World ?-?: Let's get him!

**Wanna know what happened before the start of this story?**

 **Please, read Inkinators: a Splatoon fanfiction to know the main characters' past and facts not explained here.**

* * *

The loud breeze was the only thing, Bars was hearing. His eyes couldn't follow the buildings and the other smaller objects, that are passing under him at incredible speed. He smiles and shouts as much as he could, until the imminent landing point.

"Ha!"

Bars did a front flip, landing on his feet.

"Yes! Perfect!" He bends his knees for a while, then he got up.

"Man! I love those stun"

"Bars, come here! Quick!"

Grina has her left hand in a upward position, near her mouth and her right hand was moving up and down, with its palm down. The boy runs towards the girl, moving his arms back and forth, while clenching his fists.

"So, did you find him?!"

The girl points at a manhole with a grate on it.

"Uh… w-wait, did he escape through the sewers?!" Bars raises his eyebrows and pulls his back backwards, while bending his vertical-positioned arms with open hands.

Grina starts to grin gradually, folding her arms.

"Ooooh, it looks like Barsy is afraid of some stinky water…" She giggles a bit.

The boy blushes a bit.

"Stop calling me, Barsy! And… ahem, I-I'm not afraid of any water or alligators!" He closes his eyes, took his hands behind his back and stood perfectly still.

"Don't worry! I'll protect you from any hungry crocodiles!" She winks, with a smile.

Bars blushes even more.

"W-w-what are you talking about?!"

Grina giggles.

"Let's go now, lazybones!" She becomes a Squid and jumps right through the grate.

"H-hey, Grina! Wait for me!"

The boy does immediately the same. He travels through a pipe, for a while, in Squid form: he tried several times to regain his humanoid form, but the sensation of being squashed kept him from doing so. Eventually, he jumps out a manhole and quickly transform into a human-like squid creature, landing on his feet on a grate.

"Bars! He ran inside that old woody cottage!" Grina points at the building matching with her description. She talked softly.

The boy walks towards the girl.

"Grina, do you have one of your plans in mind?" He said in a low voice.

"Yep! As crazy as usual! All I need is that leg-muscle of yours…!" She covers her mouth, while chuckling.

"Huh?! Y-you want me to knock down that door?" He looks at the door.

"Exactly! You're a strong boy, after all! And, you know… my legs are all fragile and delicate…" She caresses her left leg, with her left hand.

Bars expanded his eyes, breathing loudly from his nose, while watching the girl's gestures.

"Leave it to me, girl!" He puffs up his chest, pulling his belly inside as much as he could.

The boy goes near the door and stood there for a brief moment. He pulls back his right leg, slowly…

SLAM!

The door falls down, making a loud noise. Grina quickly jumps ahead, landing on her left foot, as she raises both her hands in a sideway position and keeps her balance on the foot. In front of the girl, there's an old Inkling man wearing an aged captain uniform. The bottom part of his face was covered by a mess up beard.

"This is the end of the road, gramps! We got you now on the ropes!"

The elder was trembling, as he kept moving his hands back and forth.

"N-no wait! Please, don't hurt me: I'm still too young to die!"

Only the light wind noise was heard, for a couple of seconds.

"Young…? You?! More like, too old even for a museum!" The girl lays her right foot down, leaning her hands on both her hips. She frowns a bit too.

"Yeah, pal! You seriously need to update that mirror of yours! Well… if you have one, that is." He folds his arm, frowning more than Grina.

The old man becomes gradually red, slamming his stick multiple times.

"How dare you! Is this how you respect the next?! I have much, much more experience on education than every Inkling combined!"

"Heh! So much experience, that you need a stick in order to sustain yourself, right?" The girl grins.

The elder was completely red! He slams his left foot on the ground, in quick yet strong movements.

"So, is this how you treat innocent younglings, aren't you?! Weeell, you two really deserve a good splattin'!"

The man was approaching, holding his stick with both his hands.

"NO, CAPTAIN! DON'T FIGHT THEM!"

Out of nowhere, a flying tiny sea-horse stops between Grina and the old captain, staring in front of the elder.

"Lisa, out of my way! I have to defend my honor as a respectable young leader!"

"B-but captain, you're not into a healthy shape! I mean, just look at yourself! You're still catching your breath, after all that running!" She points at him, with her right hoof.

"It doesn't matter! My spirit demands revenge!" The man shakes his stick with his right hand.

"You don't need violence, to achieve that… **explanation** will be good enough!" Lisa moves left and right, while moving her head in the same direction.

"Are you sure…?" The captain lowers his stick, raising his eyebrows.

"Pretty good idea, little sea-horse!"

Lisa turns her back, looking at Grina and Bars smiling.

"Honestly, I'd not have the courage to hurt that poor elder…" She swings her right hand towards a fly, making the creature flee.

"YOUNG! I'M A YOUNG BOY!" The man shouts, shaking his stick again.

"Tsk, whatever…" She shrugs. "Anyway, you'd better start explaining yourself! Because I don't like the idea of having paparazzi, all around my personal life!" Grina lays her hands on her hips, frowns slightly and taps her right foot at a normal pace.

"I bet he wanted to do something nasty to us!" Bars raises both his fists, at head level.

The captain lowers his head.

"… I think I made a mistake…" He said in a low voice.

"Uhm? What's that?" Grina shakes her head quickly, moving her back forward a bit.

"I thought I was looking in front of two kind Inklings." He raises his head, staring at both. "I saw the injustice you had endured in the early afternoon."

Suddenly, Grina and Bars opened their mouth, expanding their eyes slightly.

"No one should deserve humiliation… not even if the responsible accidentally destroyed something important. Actually… I examined the **Inkinators** , since that Global Testfire announcement."

"Examined us…?" Grina stood still.

"Yes. I watched most of the battles you took place. You two have so much potential… but your quick disrespect only proved how selfish and nasty, you can become. I… I don't even want to say, why I spied on you!" He shakes his head, with his eyes closed.

"What?! Ooooh no, you don't! You'll not get away from us, you rusty bucket!" She points at him, gritting her teeth and frowning a lot.

"… I rest my case." The man turns his back, walking away.

"HEY! COME BACK HERE, YOU"

Lisa stood in front of Grina, stretching her legs forward, successfully making the girl stop.

"Let me pass! No one spies on me and Bars, thinking to get away with it!" She rotates her right forefinger, while shouting.

"Leave him alone! I'll explain the rest… I promise!" Lisa was frowning too.

Grina stares at the sea-horse, for a while. Then she sighs loudly.

"All right. Fire away."

"How about we talk outside? The air is very fresh and relaxing!" Lisa moves up and down, with her eyes closed.

"Uhm, good idea: I'm choking with this woody smell of closed doors." She shakes her right hand, in a sideway position, near her right side of the head.

"Great! Let's gooooo!" Lisa does a quick spin.

She flies outside, while singing.

"Eh eh, what a cheerful little sea-horse!" Bars smiled.

"Yeah, I guess… let's not stay behind now, Bars!" Grina goes out of the cottage.

The boy follows her, scratching the left side of his head, with his right hand.


	2. World ?-?: Explanation time!

The little sea-horse stops, just a few yards away from the elder's cottage: she breaths loudly and sighs.

"All right, we satisfy your wish, Missy Fairy."

Lisa turns her back, looking at Grina: she lay her hands on her hips, as she raised her eyebrows.

"Now it's your turn: spill the reasoning behind this spying! All of it…"

Bars reached the girls, as he smiles to the sea-horse.

"Ok! I'll do it!" Lisa moves left and right, while moving her head in the same direction. "It's not hard to understand, anyway."

Grina folds her arms, frowning slightly.

"That depends, Youknowitall. And now, start your dance."

"Yes, ahem!" She closes her eyes for a moment. "The man following you is known as Capitan Cuttlefish, a very nice person!"

"Looks like an old computer, with a serious need of updates." Grina rolls her eyes.

"He just doesn't like to be called in such manner… however, the Cap'n isn't really that old, at all! He has recently celebrated his 105th birthday!" Lisa smiles, while doing a quick spin.

"C-clam! He managed to destroy my expectations!" Grina expanded her eyes, with a big sweat drop on her head's left side, while frowning a bit more.

"Y-you can say that again!" Bars closed his eyes, laughing lightly, with a big sweat drop on her head's left side.

"I know right?! I reacted in the same way, too!" Lisa moves up and down, with her eyes closed.

"A-anyway, proceed with your babbling." Grina points at Lisa, with her right forefinger.

"Oh, right!" The sea-horse clears her throat. "Well, he dedicated a lot of time, searching for **new fighters** that would help him, protecting our lovely city!"

"New fighters? Really?" Grina lowers her left eyebrow, while lifting the other one. "That was his only reason?"

"Yep!" She smiles.

"Uhm… protecting the city from what, exactly? Those annoying **Stingrays**?" He lies his chin on his right hand, while his left hand grabs his right side of the body.

"Oh no, not from them…" Lisa shakes her head.

"Then, from who?" Grina asked, while scratching her head with her right forefinger.

"… **from the Octarians**."

The Inklings stared at Lisa, without saying anything. The sea-horse starts sweating a bit.

"… d-do you know them, right?"

Grina and Bars look at each other.

"Ehm… w-what's she talking about, Grina?"

"Beats me. I thought you'd know something!" The girl opens her arms.

"I-I don't even remember that weird name, she said earlier!" He grins, with a big sweat drop on his head's right side.

"Their name is Octarians and they are your distant cousins!" She flies near the Inklings.

"Distant cousins…? Wh-wha?! You mean, **they are like us**?!" Grina watches Lisa, flying around her and Bars.

"Exactly! There are different species of Octarians, but they enjoy swimming in their Ink, like you would in your own!" She stops, looking at Grina.

"… i-is this a joke? Like, it was already enough we got those aliens, polluting the street with their disgusting goo!" She moves her arms in various directions, with short but quick movements.

"I know right?! It was quite a shock for me, when I saw them on the television!" Lisa expanded her eyes a bit.

"Nothing compared to kicking their bottoms, in first person!" Bars grins, while folding his arms.

"Oh yes! The captain told me everything: you two must be very skilled, when it comes to Ink Shooting!" Lisa looks at Bars, with a smile.

"Ink Shooting isn't the only thing, we excel at…" Grina looks down, folding her arms too.

"Ooooh, that's interesting!" She moves left and right, while moving her head in the same direction. "What are the other skills?"

"Lie Sniffing." Grina raises her head, staring at Lisa.

The sea-horse opens her mouth.

"Your little story smells more than Kusayan fishes, in their bad day!" Grina shakes her head, slowly.

"Y-you don't believe me?!" She moves her legs, up and down, quickly.

"Sigh… would you believe a complete stranger, saying that you're the chosen one to protect the city? It sounds like, an amateurish fiction!" The girl covers her eyes, with her right palm, as she keeps shaking her head.

"Ehm… well… it depends from the stranger…" Lisa looks diagonal down-right, with lowered eyelids and a downturn mouth. "B-but that sure doesn't sound amateurish! I'd gladly read a story like that!"

"Well, I wouldn't!" Grina points her chest, with her right thumb. "And so, Bars!"

"Ugh… don't remind me: I'm allergic to books." He raises his left cheek, along with his mouth's left side, as he lowers his eyelids.

Grina raises her shoulders together, while shaking her head.

"At this point, I think that there's nothing more to say or to add."

"No, wait! D-don't jump to hasty conclusions!" Lisa was sweating, while shaking her body, as she lowers her eyelids.

"We didn't jump to hasty conclusions… we SUPER jumped your attempted scams!" Grina moves her right hand towards a mosquito, that was passing in front of her eyes.

"Scams?! No no no! Y-you got it all wrong!" Lisa moves her legs away and then near each other, sideways, multiple times.

"Bars." The girl turns her back, looking at the boy that was scratching his right cheek, with his right hand. "Let's leave this dumpy place."

"Yeah, I'm getting tired…" Bars stretches his arms.

The Inklings begin to walk, going towards the manhole.

"Wait, wait!" Lisa flies in front of them. "I-I'm begging you, to understand our situation! The captain has great faith in you and"

"You're starting to get really… REALLY annoying." Grina frowns a lot. "Leave us alone, please. I had enough dose of fighting people, for today."

"B-but, we really need"

"GO AWAY, BUG!" Grina tries to slap Lisa, but she avoids the attack.

Both friends reached the manhole: Grina quickly jumped through its grate, in Squid form. Bars looks behind him, seeing the flying sea-horse: he has a downturn mouth and both his eyebrows were raised and pulled together. Shortly after, he jumps through the manhole's grate, in Squid form.

Lisa watched the two Inklings leave: her mouth was open and her eyes were appearing slightly watery. She quickly flies away, reaching Cuttlefish's cottage. At the entrance, there was the captain himself that watched the whole scene: together with Lisa, they both entered inside the woody building.


	3. World ?-?: Mind your own business!

The sun was getting higher, in the clear sky and was facing Inkopolis, the Inkling city. His rays were entering inside the buildings, through their windows. They even entered inside one window in particular… where a familiar face was sleeping like a bab

 _KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK!_

The loud noise made Grina open her eyes, in haste: she tried to lift her eyelids, as much as she could, but those appear much heavier than they look.

 _DRIIIIIN!_

The girl jumped up, landing on her bottom. Her expression was still the same, as her back tilted forward slowly. Grina was staring at one point of her room, while still trying to open fully her eyelids.

 _KNOCK KNOCK!_

The Inkling starts to frown a lot: she turns to her left and jumps out of the bed, while kicking in the air with both her legs. She inserts her feet, inside night slippers with the appearance of a Squid looking up. Grina walks towards the door, trying to lift her back as well.

Before talking, she looks through the main door's peephole: the girl couldn't see nothing, except the usually empty hallway. However, only now she could hear something suspicious: **a loud sobbing**. Without hesitating any longer, Grina grabs the round door handle, turns it a bit clockwise and pulls the door.

Suddenly, someone flies inside the house: the girl turns her back, looking at the flying being. She expanded her eyes: the creature was Lisa! She was sobbing and crying, standing still in the air while flapping her tiny wings at fast speed.

"S-sorry for the rush, but I need help! It's an emergency!" Lisa sniffed, loudly.

Grina stares at her, without replying.

"… y-you…"

"Please! You're the only one, that can"

"Wait, wait, wait…" Grina moves her hands back and forth, in front of Lisa. "I… can barely stay awake… could you hold still, for a moment?"

Lisa nods.

"Ok! S-sorry… sniff!"

Grina walks towards the bathroom: once inside, she goes near the faucet and pulls up its handle. The girl took some water, with her cupped hands and splashed her face using it: she rubs her eyes even more, than the other parts. She pushes down the faucet's handle and took the towel hanging near: she dries her face with it, along her hands.

"All right…" Grina walks out of her bathroom. "You have 10 seconds to explain yourself, before I call the police."

"Th-the police?! W-why?!" Lisa expanded her eyes, looking at the girl walking near the main door.

"Because I'm tired of your ship." She closed the door and turns towards the sea-horse: she folds her arms. "Now, talk."

"S-sniff… i-it's terrible! Th-the captain… h-he's… **kidnapped**!" She opens her legs.

"…" Grina yawns, covering her mouth with her right hand. "Yeah, sure… from your imaginary friends, I suppose."

"No! The Octarians did that, sniff! Y-you are the captain's only hope!" She flies near the Inkling girl.

"Oh… cool, I guess… then why you didn't wake Bars too, hmmm?" She shakes her head slowly.

"H-he wasn't at home! And I-I couldn't find him anywhere, sob!"

"… you know… it's rather suspicious that you guessed so well, my house location…" She frowns again.

"No, it's not suspicious! The captain told me, where you and Bars live and I used my memory skills, to reach you!" She lowers her eyelids in a frown.

"Ooooh… now that explains everything! … yep…" Grina walks towards her smartphone: it was laying on a bedside table, to the right of her bed.

Lisa inhales loudly and suddenly, she flies inside Grina's pajama shirt from the girl's back.

"What the-YEOUCH!" The girl screams, with her head raised up, eyes closed, as her hands made a scratching stand.

Grina opened her eyes, but she wasn't lowering her head: her hands returned slowly to their neutral position and her mouth was left open just slightly. For a while, she stood in that stance without saying anything… until the girl beats her own eyelids, with quick movement, in a second.

"… I-I'm sorry for doing this… but I had no choice." Grina said, while lowering her head. "The captain needs to be saved, before it's too late."

The girl looks around her own room and then her own pajama. She quickly pulls the shirt out of her: behind her back, there was Lisa lying on it with her left side of her body. She had her eyes closed and her tail was stretched far, with the point inside Grina's skin.

The girl pulls her pants too: both the clothes thrown on the bed.

"But first, I need to wash myself!" Grina raised her forefinger up. "After all, the girl just woke up."

She walks inside her bathroom again, this time to properly take care of body hygiene. She comes out of it, in a short time and starts looking around again. She stares at a wardrobe: the girl walks near it and pulls its handles. Inside the wardrobe, there were different type of shirts and headgears. The girl took a pink one, known as Shrimp-Pink Polo and very short black pants, with a line on its side. She wears them, immediately.

Another quick glance inside: her eyes were focused on a pair of glasses, known as the Retro Specs.

"Wow! I love glasses!" Grina took the glasses and wears them, with a smile.

Looking under the clothes, there were a wide selection of shoes. The girl moves her right forefinger above them, until it stops on white shoes known as White Seahorses.

"Those look really cute! I don't why, though…" Grina took the shoes and lay her feet inside them, one at the time.

After tying both her shoes, the girl looks around.

"Now, where's her wallet…?"

Grina begins to search around, until she found the wallet inside a bedside table's drawer, located on the right side of the bed. The girl opens it and took off her different plastic cards: she watches every single one of them, rapidly.

"Hmmmm… ok, there are the essentials!" Grina puts the cards, back to their place and closes the wallet.

She lays the wallet inside her pant's right pocket.

"Huh? What's that thing?" The girl looks at something behind the bedside tablet's right side.

She bends down, taking the Splattershot. The girl watches the weapon, turning it around.

"Oh, right! This is a Shooter! It'll sure come in handy… and that thing near it, must be the Ink Tank!"

Grina wears the Ink Tank: it starts slowly to fill up, with Yellow Ink. She grasps her weapon and walks towards the main door. All the sudden, she stops while gritting her teeth and closing her eyes with strength.

"Nnnggghhh…! S-she's reacting…! I… must… hold… the… … c-control!"

The girl bends down a little, while groaning loudly. Suddenly, she breathes heavily and gets back up.

"Huff… puff… w-wow, she's strong! Really strong! I-I never thought that someone would have, this much willpower!"

Grina coughs once, loudly.

"I hope to hold my mind control, as long as I can…"

The girl reaches the main door. She grabs the handle and turns it clockwise: the door is pulled and the girl got out of her apartment, while closing the door.


	4. World 1-1: Warm-up Inkbattles!

Grina walks down the road, looking around the surroundings: young Inklings, Jellyfishes and other sea creatures, with bags on their back, are all walking in the same direction, away from the girl.

"Aaaah, the simple job of the youth! That sure brings back some memories…" She closes her eyes, while smiling.

Grina lifts up her glasses, by pushing the middle of them with her right forefinger. A little away from the girl, there is a group composed by 2 girls: one is an green-colored Inkling and the other one is a Jellyfish wearing a purple shirt. The green girl was pointing at Grina with her left forefinger and talking in a low voice to the Jellyfish, while covering her mouth with the upper-side of her right hand.

Grina turns to her right, looking at the two girls: the green one quickly holds both her hands, behind her back and starts looking around, as she walks in a different direction. The Jellyfish quickly follows her, without saying a word.

Grina watches them for a while, then she turns ahead, taking longer steps than before.

"Shoot, I shouldn't waste my time now: the captain absolute needs my assistance!" She frowns a bit.

In no time, the girl reached the main plaza: around there aren't too many people. Judd the cat was looking at a male blue Inkling, while drinking soda with a straw and sitting on his red cushion: the boy was talking loudly about Squids and the Inknet.

 _"_ _Hey, what a luck: those two aren't paying attention to me! Sneaking in that manhole is going to be a piece of crabby cake!"_ The girl smiles, while frowning and lowering her eyelids.

Grina takes long steps, going much slower and touching the ground with her toes, reaching the top of the manhole. With a small jump, she becomes a Squid and passes right through the grate. She was unaware that a female Inkling took a glance of her actions, while walking.

Grina crawled through the pipe, in Squid form, getting to the other side without any problems. She jumps out from the manhole, transforming into her humanoid-self in midair. As she lands, the girl bends down while touching the ground with her right hand.

Looking at her right, Grina saw the cottage: there was nothing but a pile of broken woods everywhere in its area. The girl frowns a lot, with a downturn mouth.

"L-look what the Octarians did to us…!" She starts shaking her fists. "I-I'm going to toast those baddies!"

Suddenly, a weird splashing noise was heard in the distance. Grina turns quickly to her left, seeing the cause of such ruckus: an odd creature, resembling a giant red tentacle was riding a metallic hovercraft, covering the ground with purple ink, using a megaphone-like device positioned on the front.

The girl runs behind a tree and looks at the being, while exposing and tilting her head to her left.

 _"_ _He really looks just like an ordinary_ _ **Octotrooper**_ _. Uhm… what an Inkling would do, in a situation like this?"_

The Octotrooper keeps covering the ground around, looking down, while getting near the girl. He raises his body and suddenly, he jumps slightly. Grina covers behind the tree, with agility.

"Aaah! W-who's there?!" The boy tilts his body to the left, then to the right, staring at the tree. "Oh no… don't tell me, they did it again!"

The creature lowers his eyelids, resembling a frown.

"But this time, I'm going to outsmart them!" The hovercraft does a 180° turn. "There, you see?! Now you can't"

The girl quickly jumps on her left side and throws a Burst Bomb on him, leaning forward.

 _SPLASH!_

The Octotrooper exploded in yellow ink and his machine sank in it. Grina looks a little tentacle flying away.

"… I wonder if I can find their hideou"

All the sudden, the girl screams with her eyes closed, as she bends down and holding her stomach with her arms. Her Splattershot falls from her hands, bouncing to her right.

"Aaaaah! A-argh… uff… uuurrrggghhh!" She gritted her teeth and frowns a lot. "N-nnggghhh…! Th-the pain… i-is too much to bear…"

Her vision starts to get more blurry and Grina lies down on the Yellow ink.

"No… n-not now… I-I have to save the cap… … w-wait… are those…?"

The girl crawls very slowly through the yellow path, with both her arms and legs: she was breathing heavily, shaking her head twice and lifting her eyelids as much as she could. She stops, looking at those weird yellow blobs sticking out from the ink. With her right hand, she took one and looks at it: she opens wide her mouth and puts the unidentified thing inside it.

Grina chews it slowly, but loudly: she snorted, while closing her eyes and frowning a lot.

"Yuck!" She shakes her head, opening wide her eyes and catching out her tongue. "D-disgusting!"

She stood there, for a while: then she gets up, looking down towards the ink.

" **Power eggs** … they really give me the power I need, to sustain myself!" She smiles. "I'm so lucky, that the Octarian had some of those with him!"

The girl bends down, picking up every single Power egg covered in Yellow ink: she got 3 in total. Grina stands up and puts the eggs into her left pocket.

"They may taste like dark-green seaweeds, but the sacrifice is totally worth it!" She rotates her body left and right, moving her head along, while smiling and closing her eyes.

The girl kicks her weapon upwards and catches it, with her right hand.

"W-wow, how did I do that?!" She expanded her eyes.

"THERE SHE IS!"

"GET HER! GET HER!"

Grina looks ahead: a group composed by 3 Octotroopers were going full speed towards her, aboard their unique hovercrafts. While charging, they shoot a big Ink shot in her direction. The girl becomes a Squid and hides in her own ink: the shots passed ahead.

She reappears quickly in her human-like form and starts shooting around the ground, with her Splattershot: all those actions were made with very fast movements. The ground was mostly yellow now and Grina quickly dives inside it, as a Squid.

"W-where is she?!" One Octotrooper was looking around the yellow ink.

"I don't know! Maybe she melted?" Another one said, while covering a chunk of ink with their own.

"Yeah, sure! And I'm the octing wiz"

Grina emerged and shot all 3 Octarians, with her Splattershot: none of the tentacle-creature could react fast enough, to avoid the ink projectiles.

 _SPLA-SPLA-SPLASH!_

They exploded in yellow ink and leave the field as flying little tentacles.

"Aaaawwww, yeah!" The girl jumped up, bending her knees in the air. "Totally slick! Going through the enemies, like a boss!"

Grina looks down, seeing Power eggs covered in ink: she goes near one and picks it up. The girl eats one, chewing it loudly. She squeezed her eyes and coughs, while catching out her tongue.

"Puah! Yuck…! S-so awful!" She snorted. "But the control is real… and so is the chance, to save the captain!"

Grina shoots the ground, covering it with her own ink.

 _Let the action, truly begin!_


	5. World 1-2: The true test begins!

_RATATATATATATA!_

Grina shoots the purple ink ahead, with her own yellow kind, then becomes a Squid and swims to the farthest point she reached, with her previous shots. There wasn't any foe or obstacles around, through the surface of Octo Valley. Two birds were watching Grina's movements, hanging on a branch of a tree, while tilting their heads occasionally.

Suddenly, the girl stops: she was staring at a large, circular area, with a skeletal vertical structure made in metal, laying on its sides. At the center of the area, Grina could see a group, presumably Octarians, talking to each other, near a big metallic cage.

The girl hides behind a metallic pillar and watches the small crowd, while squeezing her eyes just slightly.

 _"_ _I can't hear them, from here! I must get closer… oh, maybe behind that other pillar!_ "

Grina quickly runs to her right, behind the metallic object. She tilts her head to her left, just a bit, starting to squeeze her eyes once again.

"What do you mean, there is an inconvenience?!" An Octarian, with a female voice and vaguely resemble an Inkling, said while holding a phone-like device near her right ear, with her right hand: the phone has an antenna that turns itself, slowly, in a clockwise motion.

"A-an inconvenience?" A circular Octarian said, while his only iris shrunk suddenly.

The group listened to the girl, in complete silence.

"… you'll reach us, in 10 minutes?! That's too much! There's an Inkling coming towards us, in any minute! Could you speed up the Tenta-Ufo, just a little more? … no?! … oh… … sigh, ok… yeah… … bye."

The girl moves the device in front of her: she pushes a red button, located under a greenish monitor, with her right thumb.

"S-so… th-they are going to pick us, right?!" A female small Octarian, flying with a propeller hat, said.

"Of course they would! We just need to be patient, that's all…" The girl smiled, while raising her eyebrows.

"Patience is not the only thing required." A male voice said that. Like the girl, he looks like an Inkling, except his tentacles were shorter than hers and tied up in a ponytail. His armor is much longer than the female one.

"Ah… you mean about **her** , Tys?" The girl looks at the boy, while frowning slightly.

"Yes. We must not let our guards down! She may attempt a surprise attack, on us." Tys folds his arms.

"Aaaah! S-she's going to sabotage us, doesn't she?!" The circular Octarian trembles, while looking to his left and to his right.

"Exactly! You're no match, for my newest agent!" Cap'n Cuttlefish shouts, while shaking his cane in the air.

"… hmpf. This is your opinion, old fart." Tys turns his back, looking at the elder. "She managed to defeat some Octotroopers, but against us is another story."

"Yep! We could tell you, all the times we defeated stronger and faster opponents, in our previous missions!" The girl giggles.

"B-but can we defeat an Inkling?! I always hear how the Squids are incredible, while grasping one of their weapons!" The round being trembles even more.

The human-looking lady gets down on her knees, looking at the creature.

"Bombo… even if the Squids are better at handling a gun, that doesn't mean they are invincible… **especially when they are alone**." The girl smiles.

"You really think?" Bombo's eye appears a bit watery.

"Yep! Or my name is not Virini!" She clenches her right fist. "Together, we are a force to reckon with! Even against an entire army of Inklings!"

Bombo gradually smiles, while opening his mouth.

"Yeah… together as a team…!"

"Be careful! I think I spot the girl!" Tys said, bending his knees and his back lightly and opening both his hands.

He was looking at a metallic pillar, the same one where Grina is hiding. Virini looks in the same direction: she gets up and lifts up her weapon, which seems like the ordinary Splattershot, except with a conic muzzle.

 _RATATATATATATA!_

Grina jumps to her left, shooting yellow ink towards the Octarian group. All 4 go quickly in different directions.

"Everyone!" Tys calls, while grasping tightly the same weapon, Virini has. "Don't try fight her! Let's try **avoiding her** , instead!"

The girl looks at him, with her mouth open: she closes it and nods, shortly after. The other two members did the same. The Inkling starts rushing towards Virini.

"Come back here, Octoling! Don't be a coward!" She shouts, trying to shoot her.

The girl throws a Splat Bomb behind her, with her right hand. Grina stops and quickly dives to her left, avoiding the blast by a small margin. Tys was shooting purple ink towards her position, while jumping. The Inkling gets up and starts shooting back and around her.

The male Octoling turns his back, shoots at the ground and dives inside the purple ink, while becoming an Octopus. Grina was looking at Tys, but she got hit by a blob of ink, before she could do anything. Turning behind, the girl quickly found that the flying Octarian was watching her: she blows a raspberry towards the Inkling.

Grina frowned and starts firing at the creature, which tilts her body, making the propeller deliver her away from the girl. Suddenly, Grina hits a rock, with her right foot and falls down, with her stomach. She groans, with her eyes close. Slowly, the girl starts getting up.

"This is our chance! Let's splat her!" Virini runs towards Grina, with a grin.

"No, Virini! Don't do that!" Tys lifts his hand up, in the direction of the female Octoling.

The girl stops, looking at the boy with her mouth slightly open. Grina lies her right hand, on her right leg and pushes her whole body up. However, she got hit by a single purple projectile fired by Tys. The shot, made the girl fall, landing on her left shoulder.

"W-what do you have in mind, Tys?" Virini lowers her weapon.

"Just watch." He points at Grina, with his right forefinger.

All the sudden, the Inkling screams loudly, as she holds her stomach with her arms and rolls slightly to her left and to her right, never touching the ground with her back.

"… Tys, I don't like this at all." Virini took off her goggles. "You are not seriously suggesting, to leave her suffer like this, don't you?!"

"She's fine, Virini. It's just the **sea-horse** possessing her."

"Huh!?" The girl expanded her eyes. "A-are you sure?!"

"I'm always sure. Their special ability is to possess Inklings and Octolings. Of course, they can't control them if the host becomes too weak. We need to separate them first or else the sea-horse will appear, together, with the girl." He folds his arms, watching Grina screaming and rolling around.

"But why this is so important? She didn't stand a chance, against us!" Virini opens her arms.

"Because the creature could find a way, to prove our existence to the Inklings… and we can't afford that. Not now, at least…" He lowers his head.

Virini didn't say anything. Suddenly, Grina becomes quiet. Something slides off her polo: it was Lisa, with her eyes closed and breathing rapidly. Tys grabs her, with his left hand.

"Oh no, Lisa!" The captain lies his hands on his cap. "Please, don't hurt her! She doesn't deserve it!"

"We'll not, old fart… however…" The boy looks at Grina.

 _SPLASH!_

He shot her, with his weapon: the Inkling flies away as a little Squid.

"Now, there is no one capable to stop us. The girl will think that she had a bad dream, so you can forget your little hopes." He smiles, while taking off his goggles, with his right hand.

"Y-you'll never get away, with this!" The captain points at the group, with his cane.

"Oh yes, we will…! The time has finally come!" Virini smiles.

"You mean, we are going to **take over the city**?!" Bombo does small jumps, with his eye closed, while smiling.

Virini nods.

"We have a huge plan in mind, about that! I can't honestly wait, for that moment!" The girl clenches her fist together, slightly bends her back and moves her legs on the spot, multiple times.

"After we go home, we should definitively celebrate!" The flying tentacle said. "How about a movie?"

"Ooooh, good idea Hel-lo!" She clasped her hands. "Everyone is fine with that?"

"Yes! Count me in!" Bombo said.

"… why not?" Tys shrugs, keeping his smile.

"Then, it's settled!" Virini raises her right fist, in the air, while looking at it. "Hip hip hooray, for the **Octo Fighters**!"

Tys does the same: the members of the group keep saying "Hip hip hooray!", while looking at the bright sky. The captain frowns a lot, squeezing the bars of his metallic cage, with both his old hands.


	6. World ?-?: Not another mystery!

...

...

 _DRIIIIIN!_

...

"... uuuhh..."

Grina opens her eyes slowly, then starts beating her eyelids: she was lying on her bed, with all her clothes on.

 _Knock knock._

The girl turns her head, to her left, staring at the door. Shortly after, she gets up from the bed, with a kicking jump. She walks at fast pace, towards the door: she got near the peephole, with her left eye. From there, she could see a familiar face: Bars.

Grina turns the handle clockwise, with her left hand and pulls the door.

"Hey Bars…" She waves her right hand, quickly, in short movements. "What's up?"

The boy opens his mouth, a little.

"… I-I would never expect such thing, from you…" He shakes vaguely his head.

"Huh? Expect what?" She lowers her right eyebrow.

"… Grina, is that you? I can't believe you're wearing the **Retro Specs**! I thought you hated them!" He opens his arms.

"Of course I hate them! Why in the name of Turf War" She suddenly stops: her eyes were expanding and her iris were shrinking gradually.

Grina runs towards a mirror, hanging on a wall. She looks at herself, wearing the Retro Specs and the Shrimp-Pink Polo.

 _AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!_

The girl screamed so loudly, that Bars jumps in the air and quickly runs away. Grina took the glasses and throw them on her bed. She quickly pulls off the polo, throwing it in the same spot. The boy was walking near the door entrance.

"G-Grina, p-please don't" Bars stops, with his left leg slightly raised from the ground.

He was looking at the girl, which her torso was only covered with her purple bra.

 _AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!_

Bars ran away again, this time with ink coming out from his nose. Grina covers her chest, with both her arms: her face was completely colored in a bright red.

"I-I'M SORRY, GRINA! I-I DIDN'T WANT T-TO DO THAT!" Bars's voice could be heard, from near the entrance.

"N-nngghh…" She grits her teeth, while raising her eyebrows, pulling them together. "That's fine, Bars… w-wait outside for a moment, ok?"

"Ok…"

The girl goes near the door and pushes it, sealing the entrance. Bars lies his right elbow on a wall, while looking ahead: there was a large window, at the end of the hallway, where the main plaza could be seen, barely.

 _Clack._

Grina's door opened: the girl was now wearing, a white shirt with an 8-bit red figure on it. The shirt was known as **White 8-Bit FishFry**.

"Enter inside, Bars." The girl smiles, while stroking her left tentacle, with her left hand.

The boy smiles too, walking inside the apartment. The girl pushed the door, closing it.

"Let's be perfectly clear…" Grina turns her back, clenching her right fist. "N-nothing happened before, ok?!"

"You mean, when you were"

"NO, I DIDN'T MEAN THAT ONE!" The girl blushes a lot, stretching her arms down, now clenching both her fists. "I mean the other event!"

"The one where you had the Retro Specs?" He scratches the back of his head, with his right hand.

"NO, BARS! I NEVER WORE SUCH THING!"

"Really… it's dizzy enough, to think you own them."

Grina backs a little, gritting her teeth and expanding her eyes.

"N-no… I-I don't have them…" She starts to sweat.

"Grina… you were using **contact lenses** , all this time. Right?"

"NO, I HAVE A HEALTHY VISION! I DON'T NEED ANY STINKIN' LENSES!" She starts breathing rapidly.

Bars smiles, walks near Grina and wraps his arms around her.

"Sssshhh, that's ok, Grina: everyone has a problem…" He strokes her back, while speaking in a low voice.

"B-but my vision is fine…" She blushes a little.

"You know, actually with the Retro Specs… **you look really cute**." He blushes slightly.

The girl blushes a lot more.

"Y-you think?" She said, in a low voice.

"I confirm it!" Bars walks back, opening his arms wide. "Did you know, that I was wearing Retro Specs too?!"

Grina expanded her eyes.

"Yes, I'm not lying! They weren't really glasses, since… you know… my vision is pretty good." He folds his arms, while showing his teeth.

"Good?! After all your videogames sessions?! Now, that's a clear lie!" She points at him, with her right forefinger.

"I swear! I never had any problems, with it! I wore the glasses, just to look cool!" He points at himself, with both his hands.

Grina looks at him, for a while… then, she sighs.

"I guess you have a point… if you hated those glasses, you'd told me so, since the beginning of our friendship." She does a lightly downturn mouth.

"Correct, girl! Bars never speaks about uncool things!" He raises his right thumb, towards Grina.

"But that polo doesn't come from my own preference! A friend gave it to me, as a gift! I even forgot about its existence…" She puffs her cheeks, folding her arms.

"Ehm, yeah… that thing doesn't look good on you…" A sweat drop appeared on Bars's left side of his head, while closing his eyes and smiling just a bit.

"And yet, it managed to appear on me! HOW IN THE WORLD, IT HAPPENED?!" Inside her iris, fire appeared, while she gritted her teeth even more.

"Beats me, dudette." He shrugs. "I thought you were sick, today."

"… sick…? Why?" The girl calms down.

"You missed school today!"

"… WHAAAATT?!" Her jaws dropped.

Grina looks to her right: she stares at the alarm clock, which was displaying 3:11 PM.

"IT'S ALREADY AFTERNOON?!" She runs towards the clock and grabs it, with both her hands, getting near its display with her head.

"Yeah… ship, don't tell me you stayed up all night?" He scratches the top of his nose, with his left forefinger.

"I'm sure as my tentacles, that I fell asleep pretty quickly! … AAAAH!" She lays the alarm clock, on the bedside table.

"I REMEMBER! I REMEMBER!" She turns towards Bars, raising her right forefinger up.

"What happened before?!" He expanded his eyes, just a bit.

"… th-that **sea-horse** … SHE WAS HERE, THIS MORNING!" The girl points at the floor, with her forefinger.

"OH SHIP, REALLY?!" He tilts his back, forward.

"I'm Ink-serious, dude! She was weeping and bubbling something, about that old fart!" She starts walking back and forth.

"And then?!"

"And then… … I-I don't remember!" She stops, looking at Bars with her arms open.

"She must hit you on the head!" He walks around, looking the room.

"Impossible! She's too small, to knock me out like that! And I'm sure as shell, that she didn't bring any weird weapons, with her!" She goes near a drawer and pulls it.

"Huh, speaking of weapons…" Bars was looking at an empty spot, near a bedside tablet's right side. "I don't see your Splattershot."

Grina immediately pushes the drawer and watches Bars.

"WHAT THE?!"

She runs around the bed, reaching Bars and staring at the same empty spot.

"NOOOO! SHOOTY!" She holds the top of her head, with both her hands, while moving her legs quickly in place.

"H-hold on a minute! **Shooty**?" He frowns slightly.

"Yes, my trusty Splattershot! My grandpa gave it, to me…!" She lowers her head, slowly.

"Uh… I see…" He raises his eyebrows, pulling them together, just a bit.

"AND THAT WITCH STOLE IT! GRRRRRRR!" She jumps multiple times, slamming the parquet with both her feet.

"G-Grina, calm down, please…!" He stretches his right arm, towards the girl.

Her face was deeply red and her eyes were completely covered in fire.

"THAT'S IT! SHE SIGNED HER OWN SPLATH SENTENCE! NOTHING IS GOING TO SAVE HER, FROM MY FLATTENING WRATH!"

Grina took her polo and throws it against the dresser: she wears her glasses and dashes out of her apartment.

"GRINA, WAIT!"

Bars runs after her, pulling the entrance door, from the outside.


	7. World ?-?: Exploration time!

Two male Inklings and a female one were talking about Tennis: all three were smiling, while the girl in particular was chuckling a lot. They were walking on a sidewalk, looking at each other. Suddenly, Grina passed near the group at high speed: quickly after, a strong wind pushed the group back a little.

They all looked at the girl, running towards the main plaza. Bars ran past them too, except slower while breathing heavily.

"Huufff… aaannfff… s-ship…" He stops, taking huge breaths.

He watches the girl reaching the manhole: she jumps and in midair, becomes a Squid and diving through its grate. Grina swims inside the pipe, without slowing down and in no time, she arrived to the other side. She comes out of the manhole, with a big jump, transforming into her humanoid form and landing on her feet.

"ALL RIGHT, YOU ANNOYING LITTLE BUZZER!" She looks around. "RAISE YOUR HOOFS UP AND SHOW"

The girl stops shouting, as she looks at the woody cottage: there was just a big pile of destroyed wood bricks and other unidentifiable items. Grina walks slowly, towards the remains of the cottage. The wind was blowing a little louder, than usual. She stops, once she got near the pile.

"… oh no… no… n-no way, this was the same ghostly residence of yesterday…" She shakes her head. "… now I remember…"

"GRINA!"

The girl looks behind: Bars was running towards her.

"Uuuff… the funk happened to this house?!" He takes big breaths.

"… it was me, being an idiot again…" She lowers her head.

"W-wait, what do you mean?! D-don't tell that you really"

"No, Bars… I'd never go that far…"

"… then, the house was already in this state?"

Grina nods.

"And guess who ruined everything, as usual…" She looks at him, with watery eyes.

"Uh… I'm positive that you aren't the idiot."

"Yes, I was! I was! I WAS!" She grabs Bars's shirt. "I'M AN IMPULSIVE MONSTER, THAT DOESN'T HAVE ANY BREAKS ON HER STUPIDITY!"

"Grina, no! How could you know something this bad would happen?!"

"How you ask?! That little bugger… **she wanted me to rescue that man**." She leaves his shirt.

"What?! B-but she never told you!"

"YES, SHE DID! This morning… she was lucky enough, to find me still sleeping in my house… s-she was crying and requesting my help… but all I did, was turning my back away from her."

Bars remains in silence.

"And as a result… s-she's gone too… t-taken away from those creatures, that I refused to believe…" A tear dropped from Grina's right eye.

"You're not the only one, girl! This dude didn't believe in their story, since the beginning!"

"But YOU would never refuse to help, a girl crying desperately!"

"Ehm… well… actually, I would refuse! Yeah, I don't trust strangers!"

"DON'T YOU DARE TO LIE ON ME, BARS!"

The boy stood in silence, while looking away from the girl.

"I don't understand, why you are spouting nonsense… if anything, you should tell me how wrong and pathetic I was, towards those two!"

"Grina… I-I can't do that."

"WHY NOT?!" She grits her teeth.

"Because **we can still fix this mistake**." He looks at the girl. "I'm sure that we can find them somewhere!"

"… you really think?"

"Ink sure!" He smiles. "After all, you said that the sea-horse wanted you, to save the elder!"

"Well, true. I refused to take her help request, so she took Shooty and tried to free him." She folds her arms.

"Kelp yeah!"

"However, if we believe in this theory… it also means, that the sea-horse happens to be 10 times stronger, than her tiny appearance would tell!"

"… actually… that sounds stupid."

"Exactly my point, Bars. She could never accomplish such task! There must be something else, we are missing…"

"Uhm… I can't think of any." He looks up.

"You know… I have a hunch, that the reason would also explain, why I was wearing different clothes when I woke up earlier."

"Heh, I never thought of that!"

"Ok, I think we should stop discussing this: maybe we can find some important clues, around this dumpy area! Not to mention, my weapon could be dropped somewhere nearby."

"Good point! Let's start the music, girl!"

Both smile at each other.

"So, we start the search by checking under that pile of wood?"

"Nah, I have a feeling that we should explore that area over there!"

"Huh?" Bars turns his back. "There? Uh… ok, I guess." He shrugs.

The friends walked together, away from the destroyed cottage. Suddenly, Grina stops: she grabs two Power Eggs, covered in yellow ink, from her left pocket.

"What the?! Bars! Look at these!"

The boy quickly stares at the two items.

"Whoa! Those things… well, they sure look nasty!"

Grina sniffs on them: she pulls her head back, while catching out her tongue.

"You can say that again!" She throws them away. "I don't want to know what those were…"

"Worm eggs?"

"EEEWWWW! Bars, I said that I didn't want to know!"

"B-but I just tried to guess!" A sweat drop appeared near his head. "Sorry…"

"Sigh… let's just move on, ok?"

Bars nods and follows Grina around the area. Both were looking their surroundings, while walking.

"Hey Grina! Look over there!" Bars points at other Power Eggs.

"Uuugghh! I don't want to see them, Bars! Just their smell are making me nauseated…"

"Don't you notice, how those eggs look like the ones you thrown away?"

"I notice that, even before your question. Now, say something different…"

"But why those eggs"

"BARS! … please… my stomach is giving me a really hard time, right in this moment…"

"… ok, ok. Sorry…"

"I know you want to act smart … but sometimes, you really"

Suddenly, Grina stops looking at an item.

"… SHOOTY!"

The girl runs towards her Splattershot. She bends down, picking it up.

"I-I can't believe this! My weapon! It's still intact!" She smiles.

She also found the Ink Tank: Grina picked it up and wore it.

"Cool! You see?! I'm sure, we'll find the others as well!" He smiles too.

"Hmm…" Grina looks around.

The friends were in a large, circular area: a skeletal vertical structure made in metal, was laying on its sides.

"And this place what is suppose to be?" The girl asks.

"Uhm… it looks boring…" The boy answered.

"Without a doubt. However, this does seem like **the remains of an apartment** … maybe there are other people around!"

"Here? Honestly, I feel to be like in a construction site!" Bars kicks a small rock. "Who wants to live in a such dull area, anyway?!"

"Probably an overgrown Seamonkey!"

Both friends laugh loudly.

"Joke aside, you never know that someone really lives"

 _Iiiiuuuueeeuuuueeeeuuuu…_

"Th-the funk is doing that noise?!" Bars looks in the sky.

"… LOOK!" Grina points towards the sky.

A small flying device, with the appearance of an UFO, was slowly descending towards the two Inklings.


	8. Miniboss - Underling's challenge!

"BEHIND THAT PILLAR! QUICK!"

Grina and Bars ran behind a metallic pillar and both watch the UFO, flying over the area.

"A-am I seeing things?!" Bars said with wide eyes.

"No, I went insane too!" Grina replied.

The UFO was slowing descending towards the center.

"G-Grina! W-what are we going to do?!"

"C-calm down, now… m-maybe those aliens a-aren't as dangerous, as they seem!"

The flying vehicle landed perfectly: it released a lot of smoke, covering it almost completely. Grina raises her Splattershot up.

"In the meantime Bars… you stay here."

"Eh?! Not even for a million of coins!"

"You don't have a weapon! If those creeps mean business, I'm going to send them back in the hole they came!"

"Grina! Th-they could kidnap you!"

The area was more clear: an Octotrooper was near the entrance of the small UFO.

"… we will see." She smiles and walks towards the living tentacle.

Bars watches the scene, as the girl stops in front of the creature. The Octarian saw immediately Grina, jumping up surprised.

"Oh no! An intruder!" He said.

"Me? How about you, galactic freak?!"

"Uh…? What?"

"Yes, you hear me right! You must belong to those losers that took two nice fellows as hostages!"

"We are known as Octarians, ignorant! And yeah, we took your bumbling captain AND that annoying fairy sea-horse in our prisons!"

"Hpm!" She smiles. "Thanks for the news, captain Babbler! Now…" Grina poses. "How about you become captain Generosity and give us that UFO, for a quick ride?"

"In your dreams, Inkling! It looks like I have to exterminate you…"

The Octotrooper ran back inside the UFO: its doors closed down, as the vehicle quickly raises up in the air. Grina lowers her gun a bit, as she walks back. The UFO starts shooting purple ink, against the girl: she runs away from it. She begins shooting yellow ink on the ground, aiming towards the purple ink.

Bars looks around: he finds rocks. The boy quickly grabs a bunch of them. The UFO kept shooting against the girl. Bars runs near the vehicle and throws some rocks, against it.

 _Thonk!_

The UFO turns behind, shooting towards the boy instead. Bars runs away, outrunning the ink projectiles by just an inch! Grina chases the UFO, trying to shoot at it: the vehicle was flying too high and her shots fall down on the ground.

Bars dives between the metallic pillars: the UFO flies up vertically. The girl stops, staring at it. The boy gets up, shakes off the dust and looks around: he watches a small road going up. He runs towards the path, climbing it.

The flying vehicle dives towards the girl, which was running towards her yellow ink. Bars reached the first floor: around him there are several crates and pillars. He took another look at the UFO: it was shooting purple ink, almost reaching Grina.

The boy quickly picked up a crate and waited: once the vehicle was flying near him, Bars throws the crate while grunting.

 _BOOONNKKK!_

The crate hits the UFO and falls towards Grina: the crate landed near her, destroyed in many pieces. The girl screamed loudly as she drops her weapon. From the top of the vehicle, the Octotrooper's head pops out: it was spinning.

Bars saw how the UFO was still flying around, this time without shooting. He quickly picks up another crate.

"I'm going to finish him, Grina!"

"Huh?! Nononono Bars, wait"

He throws another crate, on the Octarian: it hits the tentacle and falls towards the girl. She dives away from it. Grina quickly looks up: the UFO was descending in her direction, as black smokes come out of it. She rapidly gets up and runs away.

 _BOOOOM!_

The UFO exploded in purple ink and a small tentacle flies off. Grina was pushed by the blast, rolling for a few yards and stopping with her stomach down on the ground. She slowly looks at the big pile of ink, caused by that explosion: she was breathing fast.

"GRINA!"

Bars runs towards the girl. Once near, he bends down.

"Grina! Are you all right?!"

"Uff… I-I think…"

The boy shows his right palm, in front of her. She picks it up and the girl stands up quickly, being carried a bit from Bars.

"That dude was too dangerous, girl! He could have splatted you into oblivion!"

"Oh… listen to who's talking!" She puffs her cheeks.

"Eh…?"

"You…" She grabs his shirt. "WHAT WERE YOU THINKING, WHEN YOU THREW GARBAGE DOWN?! I WAS ABOUT TO BECOME A FRISBEE, YOU IDIOT!"

"Eeeehhhmmm… oops?" He chuckles a bit.

"THIS IS NOT FUNNY, BARS!" She leaves his shirt and turns around, while folding her arms.

"G-Grina, please…! I-I'm sorry, ok?! I didn't want to hurt you…! I-I defeated that goon, you see?!"

The girl didn't say anything for a while, then she sighs loudly as she turns back.

"Yeah, but you should be a little careful in the future… by not acting like a stupid seamonkey!"

Bars looks down. Grina gradually smiles: she goes near him, giving the boy a hug.

"Now now, that's ok… it happens to do mistakes. Even for me."

"Well… I don't think you did a mistake as big, as this one." He hugs her too.

"Did you already forget about those two?"

"… t-that doesn't count!"

"It does Bars…" She leaves Bars. "We know, that those… Octo… Octa… those creeps are holding them inside a prison. Who knows what their fate is going to be…!"

"But we can still save them, Grina!"

"Exactly! And THIS is what we are going to do!"

"… r-right now?!"

"Nope. I don't think, we can stand a chance against them… or at least, **with those simple weapons**."

"Uh? … aaaah, I get it! You want to modify them!"

Grina nods while smiling.

"Yep! It has been a while, since I used some art on our weapons! If I start working on them, I think that tomorrow we're fully ready to take their butts, upside down!"

"Kelp yeah!" He laughs. "We are going to teach them a galactic lesson!"

Grina giggles.

"Let's move now, big boy."

Both the Inklings begin to walk: Grina goes near her Splattershot and picks it up. She closely looks around it.

"Uhm… Shooty didn't get too much damage."

"Good! So you don't have to fix it!"

"Uh-huh."

The boy and the girl begin to walk, going away from the area.

"Anyway, once we get back to the plaza, go to your apartment and pick up your weapon. I'll get back to my house, to see if I missed anything. We'll meet… uhm…"

"How about the schoolyard?"

"Hmm… ok! We'll meet there, got it?"

"Right on!"

The friends smile at each other.

"Actually… I have a question!" Bars said.

"Shoot it."

"Did you figure out, how we are going to infiltrate inside that alien world?"

"… hmm! For now, let's leave that question open: we are going to investigate better this place, tomorrow."

"After school?"

"I don't think we have school, tomorrow. I'll check my student diary back home."

"Ok!" He nods.

The Inklings kept walking and talking at each other, all the way through the peaceful valley.


	9. World 1 Epilogue - Friendship

Evening, with the skies a bit cloudy. Inside a familiar treehouse, Grina was applying glue on the Ink Tank attached to a Roller weapon. Bars was sitting on the sofa, watching TV.

"… there! I'm done with those modifications!" She picks up the Roller.

"Oh really? Cool!" He stands up. "Let me see, Grina!"

He walks near the girl, which she holds with both her hands. The Roller has longer and larger sides, with two Ink Tanks near each other. She passes the weapon to the boy.

"Whoa…!" He looks around it. "It looks so badbass!"

Grina smiles.

"I'm satisfied with the work. I wish to have more parts, so I could bring even more updates! Alas, like food, it requires a lot of useless metallic gold…"

"Uhm… there is something weird about this weapon…" He throws it up, multiple times, at a very small distance.

"Hmm?"

"Is it me or… this Roller is much more lighter than usual?"

"Ah yes! I used lighter sides and handle, to let you move faster and throw ink rapidly. Even a kid could lift that weapon, as easily!"

"Aaawww, shucks! I thought I became stronger!"

Grina laughs.

"Nevertheless, you are indeed very strong, Barsy!" She winks.

"My nickname isn't, though…" He rolls his eyes.

"Oh come on! Could you grant me a special permission?!" Her eyes appear watery.

"Not even if you are my girlfriend!"

Suddenly, both the Inklings start blushing: they quickly become red on their faces.

"… e-ehm… a-a bit too e-excessive, roller b-boy…"

"W-wait, wait! I-I just w-wanted to do a-an example, o-ok?!" He sweats. "I-I'm not seriously h-hanging out with you, j-just to… w-well… hit on you…!"

"… really?"

"… eeehhhmmm… n-not really REALLY. I-I mean, y-you do look gorgeous…"

Grina blushes even more.

"AAAH, WAIT! Cute! I meant cute, ok?! A c-cute girl friend!"

The girl starts smiling, gradually.

"… uhm, more like a cute female friend! Or cute friend female! No, hold on a sec… th-that doesn't sound grammatically correct…"

Grina giggles.

"Do you wanna know… w-what I think of you?"

Bars blushes even more.

"M-me?! I… I, ehm… you know… … o-ok! F-fire it."

"Very well. H-honestly… you aren't as bright, as your a-average jockey…"

The boy stood in silence.

"… but at the same time, I-I do appreciate your stupidity!"

"Wha…? D-didn't you hate me f-for being too stupid?"

"Of course I did! … agh, no! No, I-I didn't hate you, Barsy! I-I'd never hate a-a dear friend!"

"Uhm… gee, since when you w-were capable of s-such thing?"

"E-exactly my point! I d-don't like you, ONLY wh-when you're t-too stupid… but normally…" She touches his chest, with her forefinger. "… you do appear interesting…"

Bars covers quickly his nose. Grina gulps loudly.

"W-with that, I-I mean you're funny! We both laugh a-at our stupidity…"

"Yeah… s-sure… gulp!"

"So… w-well… l-let's keep hanging out together, o-ok? Who knows… m-maybe one day, w-we are going to t-talk about other things… like… like…"

"Like how beautiful the bright n-night is?"

Ink come out from Grina's nose. She covers it.

"… ooops! Looks like Grina i-is getting a bit tired…!"

"Huh? You wanna go back home…?"

"No… j-just relaxing on that sofa, for a while… chatting with you…"

They both smile.

"All right! I hope they'll broadcast a funky movie!" Bars walks towards the sofa.

"How about a funky documentary?" Grina follows Bars.

"Aaahh…!" The boy sits on the sofa. "A documentary…? Which one?"

"A conspiracy-like theory! I like those!" She sits near Bars.

"Aaaww, girl… they bore me!"

"What?! They are awesome! You should give them a try!"

"My mom forced me… and I still sleep through those programs!"

Grina puffs her cheeks.

"… sigh… all right, all right. Let's see if we can find one of those…"

"Yay!" She raises her arms.

They soon find a documentary, talking about monsters living in the open sea. The Inklings watch the program together, without saying a word. After a considerable amount of time: Grina's head was lying on Bars's right shoulder, while still looking at the TV.

"Barsy…"

"Hmm…?"

"You know… I was thinking…" She sighs. "Maybe tomorrow, we should bring our friends with us…"

"Which friends?"

"… **Mirii and Hunry**."

No one said anything, for a while.

"… after all they did to us…?"

"I know, I know… they weren't nice and all. But… you see… I-I thought a lot about that quarrel we had…" She looks at him.

"Huh… so, you did it too."

"What?! Really?!"

"Yeah… I think I cried a bit…"

"… same here…"

"I-I can't believe that Mirii did that, to us! At the same time, though… I can't really hate her… s-she was one of my best friends!"

"After all those insults she kept spamming on you?! How can she still be your best friends?!"

"I never minded someone calling me like that! Especially from my friends! Didn't you call me **idiot** , this afternoon?!"

"Oh… … b-but that was different! I wasn't in control of myself!"

"I know, girl! That's why I never cared when Mirii calls me like that! We know her, Grina! That girl has some serious problems going on in her life!"

"… you are right, Bars… I had the displeasure to meet her mother…"

"Ah yeah, you mentioned something like that too! This is why I was always so passive, towards that girl's attacks!"

"However, she wanted to humiliate you… and I think, I lose my sanity at that point."

"Grina… she is our best friend! She would probably notice the exaggeration and cut out the scene!"

"Maybe… maybe…"

They stood in silence, for a short time.

"I-I don't want to lose a friend… one of my best friends, nevertheless! I-I know she's thinking about the same things, right in this moment…"

"Yeah, she was so happy with us…"

"And Hunry… … I treated him like ship, yesterday."

"Though, I don't understand why he was so passive about the whole thing…"

"I figured that one out the other night… sigh… Hunry didn't want to stand up against me… poor guy… he must have been scared during that whole fight."

"Well, actually… I kinda acted like him too towards Mirii… so, I was a coward too."

"Don't say that, Bars! You cared for her just like Hunry did to me! Don't you see this?!"

"Heh… I guess you are right. So, what do you have in mind?"

"Uhm…" She looks up, for a while. "How about we eat a catfish burger all together?"

"Groovy idea, girl! Speaking of food, it's almost dinner time too!" He looks at the digital clock, hanging on a wall.

"Yep!" She smiles. "Let me give a call to our _perfect_ friend!"

Grina took her smartphone from her left pocket. She touches the screen, going through the Call menu. After touching the screen one more time, she lays the phone on her ear. A brief silence fell in the room.

"… oh… crap." She said.

"W-what's up?"

"She blocked my phone number!" Grina touched something on her phone, then she puts it back on her left pocket.

"Huh?! Let me try call her!" He picks his smartphone from his right pocket.

Bars touches the screen quickly, then he lays his phone on his ear. A small amount of time passes, in silence…

"FUNK! She toasted mine too!" He touched the screen again, then he puts it back on his right pocket.

"Ehm… l-let's not become pessimistic about this, ok?! We're going to visit her in person! Ooooh, wait wait…! I got an even better idea!"

"Which is?"

"We are going to pick up Hunry first, THEN we are going to visit Mirii! She's not going to resist coming out from her house!"

"Aaah, yeah! They are like lovebirds, after all!"

The friends chuckles together.

"Exactly! So, what are we waiting for?! Let's reform **Inkinators** as the glorious Turf Wars squad of Inkopolis!" She stands up, raising her right fist.

"YES! Let's do this!" He stands up, raising his left fist.

Bars turns behind him, took the TV remote and pushes its red button, shutting down the television. The Inklings walk together, towards the treehouse's entrance door.


	10. World 2-1: Operation Reformation

Walking inside a building, Grina and Bars were talking with each other animatedly.

"Well, it looks like our little operation is about to fly! Wouldn't you say so, Barsy?" She smiles, as she pushes the call button.

"It'd fly better without that nickname!" He groans frustrated.

Grina giggles at his reaction.

"Why so serious?" The girl makes up an exaggerated serious expression.

Both the friends exploded in a loud laughter. Soon the elevator arrives opening its doors with a screeching sound.

"Ew, talk about rusty!" Grina commented, doing a grimace of disapproval.

The Inklings entered inside the elevator: once inside, Grina presses firmly a number button making the elevator close its doors and climb its strong ropes.

"All right, my boy." She pats Bars on his back. "We are almost near our farmer friend's house. If you have any ideas, aside from eating, spill them from your mouth."

"While we were walking, I thought to bring Mirii and Hunter with us at the club…"

Grina expanded her eyes in surprise.

"Brilliance! That's all I have to say!" She jumps excited.

 _Ding!_

The elevator reaches the destination and both the young Squids come out of it. They walk in a hallway.

"You are definitively going to say that, mister genius!" Grina grins full of joy.

Bars nodded satisfied with the positive results. The friends arrived in front of a door: Grina pushes its doorbell. Right after a few seconds, the door opens revealing Hun himself wearing lighter clothes than usual.

"You?!" Hun exclaimed in shock.

"Yep! We are back!" She winks enthusiastic.

His little sister hugs him from behind, watching the two Inklings with great displeasure.

"Oh, hello Fara! It's good to see you too!" She bends down, almost petting her.

She snorted menacing to bite Grina's hand with her teeth.

"Fara, say _Hi_ to Grina! Now!" He scolds his sister in disappointment.

She sighed refusing to look at the girl.

"Hi…" Fara said in a low voice.

Hun frowned, disapproving her behavior.

"Ahem!" Grina manages to get the two's attention. "Me and Bars decided to invite both of you for dinner! Sounds swell enough?"

"For dinner…?" He repeats vaguely.

"Yeah, pal! We know a great fast-food where to chow down the best Cheeseburger ever conceived from this world!" Bars proudly announces.

"Huh? C-cheeseburger?" Hun asked confused, looking at his sister hoping for an answer.

She shrugs clueless.

"So, how about it, Hunry? Do you want to come with us?" She invites him followed by a cordial hand movement.

"Uuuuh… I don't even know what's a cheeseburger!" He pulls the top of his shirt, unable to trust such food.

"Oh ship, really dude?! It's so awesome to eat! You really need to try it out!" Bars stomps the ground eager to eat one himself!

"Ehm… I don't know, really…" His eyes rest on Fara, hoping to come out with an appropriate answer.

"Ah, I forgot to mention something!" She raises her forefinger realized. "We are going to invite Mirii too!"

"Ah… I see…" He shyly looks back at Grina.

"Come on, Hunter! After the chowing, we are going to hit the club!"

"The club…? Why we would hit a club? I thought you use a club to hit a ball!"

Suddenly, an uncontrollable laughter was heard for an instance, forcing the conversation to end abruptly. Overwhelmed by an urgent sense of curiosity, Grina walks away trying to find out the cause of such laughter, with Bars following her.

She stops after a while, finding no one nearby.

"W-who laughed?!" Hun shouted.

"Hmm… I don't see anyone around." The girl keeps looking around.

"Heh! It must have been a ghost!" Bars folds his arms, with a mischievous smile.

"Ha! Gotta call the busters!"

The two friends laughed so much that their stomach started to hurt! They walked back reaching their friend.

"False alarm, Hunry! Your house is safe from any mean phantoms!" She opens her arms, reassuring the scared boy.

"… what's a phantom?"

A cold breeze caressed the girl and Bars.

"Anyway! Wanna come along?"

"Sa' no, bub!" Fara stands in front of him, doing a defensive pose against Grina.

"Eh?! F-Fara!"

"Ya 'on 'ell me, 'hat you 're comin' wi' 'hem now?!" Fara turns her back, puffing her cheeks.

"… uhm… w-what she said, Hunry?" She tilts her head for a moment.

"I… said… that… my…"

"No wait, sister! She just told me to not go with you."

"Why? We are his friends, little one!"

"YA'RE LYIN'! Ya wan' to 'ock him aghin, 'on you?!" Fara roars, showing her teeth.

"Fara, why they would do that? Don't you see that they are inviting"

"Big bro! Did ya forgo' 'hat 'appened yisterda'?! 'hat **cow** 'overd ya in 'ud!" Her face gets angrier.

"Hey hey hey! What did she meant with cow?!" Grina asked with great suspicion.

"Ehm… n-nothing! But you see"

"Hun, I'm th' one goin' to tal'! … don't… try… to… disturb… him… aghin… again! … understood?"

"Disturb? Bu… what's up with all this hostili"

 _SLAM!_

Fara slammed the door in front of Grina's face. She stood in silence for a moment, without showing her reaction.

"All right, let's go Bars." She walks in the hallway in a fast pace.

"Uh? Where?" The boy was forced to run, in order to keep up with Grina's pace.

"To Mirii's apartment! We're going to get her first, then we are going to get Hunry."

"Are you sure this is a good idea? That little lady was biting harder than a shark!"

"She'll do nothing, once we have _Miss Perfection_ on our side! She can't think of us as enemies, if we have their ally on our side!"

Grina calls the elevator: this time it arrived earlier. The friends enters inside, with Bars pushing the M button. The elevator reaches the 1st floor in no time.

"Ehm… do you think she'll listen to us, Grina?" Bars broke the silence, as he goes out of the elevator together with Grina.

"I'm thinking about it!" The girl tries to find her focus.

The two friends exit the apartment: Bars noticed that someone inside a car was watching them passing by. He quickly turns his face towards Grina, wanting to ask her a question.

"So, what's the plan this time? You talk and I chill outside?" He tried to guess.

"And why you should do that?" She looks at him, not agreeing with his idea in the least.

"Because… eeehhmmm… she hates me?" He asked embarrassed.

"She doesn't hate you! We are friends, remember?! She would never despise any of us!" Grina declares, refusing to believe a word of it.

Bars sighed, wishing to agree with the girl without any remorse. From that point, the friends didn't say much between each other: Grina was too busy thinking about her strategy, instead of talking with her friends. Bars didn't mind at all: he silently let Grina organize everything for the sudden meeting.

They soon reached the Student Apartments where Mirii lives. Someone was coming out from the main door, letting the two friends enter inside.

"Ok, I finished using my brain. Time to pick up shorty-temperament!" She walks near the stairs.

"Hey, why the stairs?!" Bars asked in a semi-complain tone.

"Because the cheeseburgers need a throne room, not a closet!" She catches out her tongue.

Bars snorted frustrated, following Grina on the stairs. They arrived at the desired floor.

"Ha, look at that! We reached the floor in record time! So much for us fatties, won't you say Bars?" She pats his stomach as a symbolic victory.

"More like us fitties!"

They both chuckled, as they were walking towards a house door. Grina rings the doorbell and eagerly waits for her friend. Some time passes, but nobody opened the door. Grina tried against, keeping high her enthusiasm. Still, no answers from the other side…

"She's not home, Grina…" Bars said, being sorry for the girl.

She wasn't saying anything… the boy lies his hand on her shoulder, as a sign of consolation.

"MIRII, PLEASE OPEN THE DOOR!" Grina shouted desperately. "I KNOW YOU ARE IN THERE! WE WANT TO TALK WITH YOU!"

Bars pulls the girl away, looking around in panic.

"Girl, what are you doing?! People are going to kick our butts, if you keep shouting like that!" He whispers to the girl.

Grina breathes loudly, trying to calm down.

"… you are right, Bars. Sorry for that…" She lowers her head, ashamed of herself. "Mirii… where could she be?"

"Who knows, Grina. We can't do anything about this…"

"No, the fat lady didn't sing yet!" She raised her head with determination. "I… I… **I have another plan**."

Bars gulped in shock, fearing the worst.

"Wh-what do you want to do now?! Don't tell me, you want to break inside her house…!"

"It's no use, Bars." She looks in his eyes, requesting attention. "Instead, we are going to get at least Hunry with us."

"But how? Hunter only listens to his sister! She'll not hesitate to bite us, if we show up again!"

"Not without something tasty to eat!" She smiles confident. "Fara is going to bite the cheeseburgers we will bring to her, Hunry and ourselves!"

Bars starts thinking about her new tactic… and nods convinced.

"In other words, you want to eat at Hunter's house?"

"Yep! That's the goal!" She pats once at the boy, inviting him to follow her. "Let's get the food and rush back, before their stomach is done for tonight!"

Grina runs through the hallway: Bars chases her, attempting to make her slow down. The young Squids exit the apartment, keeping their fast paces.

"Come on, Bars! We have cheeseburgers to conquer!" She encourages him, while dodging a person walking in their way.

He grumbled something, unable to speak normally since fatigue was taking over him. They soon reached a nearby fast-food restaurant: from the outside, it was possible to see a crowd of different sea creatures either waiting in a line or eating their meals.

Grina pushes the door, with all her strength. What she saw next, made her scream in panic: many persons were standing in a line, waiting impatiently for their ordinations. Bars arrived too, feeling his feet burning from all that physical activity.

"OH FUNK!" Bars shouted in shock, after a quick glance at the line. "We will be lucky enough to get the dinner before next morning!"

"This is not the time to throw up our gloves!" Grina walks at the end of a line. "I'll take this one! You'll take the other one: whoever gets first served, the loser will go to the winner. Understand?"

"All right!" Bars walks at the end of a line, near the girl.

"Ok, now we have to decide for Fara's meal." She speaks to the boy, raising her voice since many people were talking at each other inside the restaurant.

"You already decided for Hunter?" Bars keeps an eye on the line, to make sure no one steals his turn.

"Yep! A cheeseburger complete menu!" Grina took a glance at the menus.

The menus were showing different types of meal. There was one in particular which caught Grina's attention: a new type of catfish burger inspired by the farm's lifestyle!

"No wait, I changed my mind! Look at that meal!" The girl guided Bars's eyes towards the newest dish.

" **Farmburger: the pleasure from the nature**." He reads its slogan out loud. "Whoa! That thing seems designed just for him!"

"Same words!" She grins boosting up her hopes. "He's going to like it so much, that he'll run here to ask for another!"

"Heh, his parents told me that Hunter and his sister are really fond to the farms…!" Bars remembers his previous dialogue with them.

"I bet he dreams every day to get back home…" Grina looks down, feeling sorry for him. "At least Fara is with him."

"How about Mirii?"

Both were occasionally moving forward, getting closer to the cash registers.

"Eh eh… I have the feeling that Mirii is extremely interested in farms!" She chuckles imagining her studying tons of books about agriculture.

"Are you sure? She's always around with her smartphone!"

"Pfff! She would dump it, if that would"

 _Attention to the people waiting in the 2 line._

Grina's line is labeled 2: she quickly raises her head, surprised and confused about that male voice.

 _The cash register is unable to proceed with the ordinations. Please move to the other lines. Sorry for the inconvenience._

A loud groan was heard, coming from the 2 line. Grina stomps the floor, in deep frustration.

"I WAS ALMOST THERE, YOU IDIOTS! I DON'T HAVE TIME TO WAIT AN EVEN LONGER, STUPID LINE!" She shakes her fist, with her eyes full of fire!

"Grina, come here!" Bars points down near him, trying to make her stop.

The girl walks near the boy, wishing to grasp the culprit's throat.

"Your strategy is working, girl!" He tries to cheer her up! "If I was in the same line, we'd have to start from the beginning!"

She listened to his words and gradually a smile was growing on her face.

"Yeah, that's true! Ha!" She folds her arms, full of herself. "Not even bad luck can stop this girl from"

 _OH NO!_

 _Bzzzzz… zzz…!_

 _I'm sorry! I didn't want to spill the soda on the cash register!_

Grina and Bars look ahead in their line: an obese male Inkling was apologizing to the cashier for the incident that he caused accidentally.

 _Great, even this one is cooked. Sigh…_

A buzz noise stormed through the restaurant.

 _Attention to the people waiting in the 3 line. The cash register is unable to proceed with the ordinations. Please move to the other lines. Sorry for the inconvenience._

The crowd yelled in anger! They were almost jumping from the other side, ready to knock out the employees.

 _Please, be patient! The technicians are coming soon to solve the problems!_

Many of the people in line decided to leave the restaurant, frustrated and disappointed from such service. Grina didn't leave though: she was looking ahead without any focus. She staggers slowly, about to faint in any second. Bars took her shoulders desperately.

"Grina, wait! We can still make it in time! There is almost no one left for the 1 line!"

With all her remaining energy, the girl turns her head to her left: as the boy said earlier, few people were waiting under the line labeled 1. The vision gave her sudden strength: she gets behind the line so fast, that Bars didn't notice her fast movements.

"Barsy, come here!" She gives sign of reaching her.

"Man!" He exclaimed in utter surprise, as he walks towards her.

"After those two, it's our turn! Let's prepare our wallets!" Grina announced in excitement.

"Now? But we are still behind…"

"Do you really think that the cashier is unable to serve two clients normally? Ha! I would like to see that!" She laughs in front of such idea.

The girl looks at the cashier: he was an old sea turtle with his eyes covered by his overgrown eyebrows.

"… … … … … so… … … … may… … … … I… … … … take… … … … your… … … … order… … … …"

"You repeated that for the 3° time! We are ready!" An Inkling male said, while holding his girlfriend's hips.

"… … … … … so… … … … you… … … … are… … … … ready?"

"Yes, we are ready!"

"… … … … … are… … … … you… … … … sure?"

"We are sure! Can we order our dishes now?!"

The sea turtle looks at the cash register: he reacted as he never seen this before!

"Well?!"

"… … … … … I… … … … forgot… … … … what… … … … I… … … … am… … … … suppose… … … … to do."

Bars slaps his forehead with his palm, incredulous.

"Ship, this guy is too old even for the old-school! Don't you think, Grina?" He looks at her.

The girl was on the verge to run around the city, screaming at the top of her lungs. Suddenly, she runs towards the counter, jumps it, brings gently the old cashier away and wears the official employee hat. She gladly reaches the cash register, looking at the clients with a bright smile.

"Good evening! May I take your order?"

The two Inklings had their jaws dropped…

"… well?" Grina ignores their reaction.

"Ehm… we want the Super Cheeseburger menu"

"Both Squida Squoda?" She taps on the machine.

"Yes"

"Normal French Fries?"

"Yeah"

"Any sauce?"

"Uuuh… no?"

"Take away?"

"No."

"Anything else?"

"Uhm… nah."

"That would be 1236 coins!" Grina finishes tapping on the machine and waits for the cash.

The young man gives his ID card to her: the girl quickly passes it through the cash register. As she returns the card, Grina starts preparing 2 food trays. With surprising dedication and skills, she took everything ordered by the young couple in record time!

"And here's the cheeseburger." She finishes preparing the 2° food tray, then serves both with a nice smile. "Have a nice meal!"

They took their food trays, relieved with the fast service. Bars comes next: he was looking at Grina with a very worried expression.

"Good evening! May I take your order?"

"… ehm… is this legal, Grina?"

"Your order?" She ignores his worries.

"Bu-but Grina"

"Your order?!" She clears her throat as a sign to do what she asked.

Bars noticed how the employees were watching Grina's actions. He sighed, surrendering to her improvised job.

"I would like 2 Cheeseburger menus, 1 Farmburger menu and… and…"

"A Kiddy Squid?" She winks at him, with a smile.

"… yeah, that." He returns the smile.

"Ok!" Grina taps on the machine. "So… Squido Squoda, French Fries, Sauces and Take Away. Anything else?"

"No."

"That would be 2095 coins!" Grina finishes tapping and waits Bars's ID card.

"Do you want a hand?" He gives his card to the girl.

"Another time, big boy!" She catches her tongue, as she returns his card after passing it on the machine.

Like before, Grina prepares the food with the same care and dedication as she demonstrated before.

"Here they are!" She gives the food bags to Bars. "Have a nice meal!"

Grina puts down her hat and jumps the counter, reaching the boy.

"Thank you for your admirable service!" She bows down towards nothing.

"Yeah, thank you!" He does the same.

"Now run." She whispers to him.

In a second, the two Inklings rushed away from the restaurant and reached the Student Apartment where Hun lives. The main entrance was open, but they didn't care about this lucky coincidence in the least: they were so focused in their run, that they took the stairs without even noticing it!

After about 5 minutes, the friends were once again in front of the door. Grina rings the doorbell, eager to talk with Hun once more. However, no one came to open the door…

"… no…" Grina pushes the doorbell again.

Still no response…

"No…!" Grina tries again, impatiently.

Not even a fly was heard from the other side…

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" She puts her hands on her head.

The girl stood in that position for a while… then she falls down on her knees, looking down. Her enthusiasm was gone… and the frustration wasn't strong enough to give her any active reactions. Bars, with all the food bags on his arms, watched the girl falling into a depression state.

"… Grina… maybe we should go home…"

… faintly, the girl starts giggling…

"We… we won, Bars. We arrived in time… just in time… eh eh eh eh eh… let's eat with our dear friends…"

"Wait… you want to eat HERE?! Outside?!" He almost made the bags fall, from the shock.

"We are not outside, Bars… don't you feel the warmth of Hunry's house…? His sister smiling at us…? We are inside… sitting on those comfy chairs… and the food is perfectly organized on the table… eh… eh… eh… it's time to chow down…"

She turns towards Bars: her eyes were watery and her heart was screaming in pain. The boy looks at the bags… and with a faint nod, he sits down on the ground passing a food bag to Grina. In complete silence, they finally started to eat their dinner… while the girl was crying after each bite.


	11. World 2-2: Music power!

It was morning and the sky was bright on Inkopolis. Grina lays her cup on the kitchen table, near a bottle of seamilk and a cereal box. After turning on the TV, she sits on the chair trying to open her eyelids as much as possible.

She prepares her breakfast, takes cereal wet of milk with her spoon and after a loud yawn, she eats the cereals. The more she gulps the cereals, the more her entire body was charging up with energy. The eyelids were fully raised now and the girl could pay more attention at the television than before.

"And now for the breaking news!" A male Inkling with glasses was talking. "The Squid Sisters finally announced the day of their concert: today at 18:20 PM, inside the Jumpin' Fishin' pool. People are already invading the place, eagerly waiting for the young idols to sing yet again in public."

Grina snorted in boredom: she took her smartphone and opens the WhatSquid application. She inhaled gladly, once she noticed Bars was online. After clicking on his icon, she taps a message on an empty box.

 _good morning barsy :3_

She sends the message and decided to prepare herself, while waiting impatiently for a response. As she was deciding her shirt, a jingle was heard coming from the smartphone. Quickly, she grabs her phone and looks at the message.

 _morning_

She taps down another message.

 _did you sleep well like a baby?_

She throws the phone on the bed and runs back towards her closet. She chose a shirt with short sleeves. The jingle was heard again, while Grina wears the cloth. She dives on the bed, taking the phone with agility and reading the message.

 _more like a king_

The girl giggles and quickly writes back.

 _lol_

 _today we have to save that old man and the small girl :3_

Grina relaxed more on her bed, waiting for Bars's next message.

 _yeah I know_

A small message reads that the boy was writing another message.

 _we go there asap?_

Grina writes deeply concentrated on the device.

 _yep_

 _bring the splatter with u ;3_

She smiles, as she sends this message. The girl was having some fun, with the chat. The next message didn't take too long to arrive.

 _ok, place?_

Grina looks up, thinking about it… then she writes her thoughts.

 _plaza_

 _don't take too long :(_

She scratches her cheek, as the new message was displayed on the screen.

 _k_

 _later_

She writes back, in a fast pace.

 _alligator :3_

As soon as she sends the text, Grina gets up and starts choosing her shoes… until another jingle was heard. Driven by curiosity, the girl grabs her smartphone.

 _rofl!_

A little laugh escaped from Grina's mouth. She hides the application and puts the phone inside her pocket. She chose green shoes and wore them in the moment. The girl walks inside her bathroom and wears her contact lens breathing heavily in fear.

Once are correctly inserted, she blinks multiple times to see if the lens would stay.

" _I-I'm getting tired of risking my eyes, just to appear fresh! From tomorrow, I'll use those nerdy glasses even if that means eternal mockery!_ " She promises mentally, looking at herself in the mirror and shaking her fist.

She walks inside the kitchen and opens one of the many food storages: she picks up two products of chocolate sticks.

" _In case our hungry boy wants some chocolastic energy!_ " Grina giggles at the idea.

After storing them inside her pockets, the girl goes inside her bedroom instantly tracking down her weapon modified illegally. She lifts it up, while her eyes were sparkling.

" _It's time to fry those Octarians!_ " She nods mischievously.

Grina took her Ink Tank on her shoulders and picked her wallet, struggling to find room for it inside her pockets. She took a last look around the house… and off she goes from her apartment. While walking out of the building, a persistent sense of remorse was lurking over her head: she frowns trying her best to not cry again.

" _No, I can't cry! I have to be strong! I-I must be… the lives of two innocent people depend on me and Bars._ "

Inhaling loudly with her nose, the girl musters all her positivity she can take. Her smile comes a bit forced and her mind was getting full of pleasant memories. However, no matter the efforts, her mood couldn't be improved by such willpower.

The events happened last evening prevented the girl from sleeping in the first hours of the night. Before departing for the land of dreams, Grina promised to have a talk with Mirii within this very day. The quiet morning was giving her a small vibe of depression.

Once she exits the building, the girl's heart was suddenly sinking down: around her, there was literally no living creature walking around or talking with each other. The deep silence was choking Grina, making her think instantly about all the possible reasons for such impossible event.

" _Th-this is a nightmare…! Th-this must be a nightmare! I-I need to wake up! I WANNA WAKE UP!_ "

The girl gave herself a nip on her right arm: nothing important happened. She starts breathing rapidly, her face was becoming pale and her body was losing all its warmth temperature. Thinking for only one second about Bars, made Grina rush down the road fearing the worst.

While running, the girl noticed several people around the district but they didn't matter anymore: her brain was cursed with horrible theories and scary observations about her boy friend. Her only hope was resting in the plaza…

She finally reached the area: her head was anxiously searching for a particular familiar face, while holding her breath. Once Grina saw very recognizable clothes, a sudden strength immediately covers all her entire body and her mouth quickly forms its biggest sincere smile: she sprinted extremely fast towards Bars, which was looking in another way.

"HI BARSY!" She shouted, diving on him.

He turns over her, instinctively grabbing the girl: both fell down on the ground, hugging each other. She strokes him with her head, as she sighed in relief.

"Wh-what the shell, Grina?!" He complains, raising his shoulders.

Grina looks at him, still smiling.

"Ih ih, I did a weetle surprise attack!" She said in a kiddy voice, trying to emulate a cat muzzle.

Bars stares at her… and chuckles a little.

"Ship! If you were a seatiger, I'd have been toasted!"

Grina giggles and jokingly tries to chow down the boy, even emulating the chewing sounds.

"Ha ha ha ha, stop it girl! It-it tickles!" He laughs uncontrollably.

The girl gets up, laughing too. She pours a hand to the boy, which he holds without hesitation and gets up with the help of Grina.

"Man, you sure know how to wake up completely a person, don't you?" He comments, as he took back his modified weapon.

"Yep! Morning hugs are a neat specialty I trained over the years." She grins, starting to walk once Bars had his weapon in his hands.

"Since when you hugged me like this in the morning?" He follows the girl, puzzled by her speech.

"Since now." She grins.

The answer confused the boy even more.

"Ehm… Grina?"

"Hmm?" She smiles at him.

He stares at the girl… then he sighs.

"Nothing." He lowers his head.

The boy starts blushing a bit.

"No, ask me without any guilt! Really, I'm all ears!" She raises her ears, almost hugging him again.

The boy blushes even more, gulping in hesitation…

"Well?" She tilts her head, curiously.

"Well… ehm… I… I wanted to say that… I liked that hug…" Bars becomes red, wishing to hide for a moment.

Grina instantly blushes a lot, realizing more clearly what she has done before. Turning quickly ahead, she lowers her head wishing to become invisible. Neither the two said anything to each other, as they almost reached the manhole: Grina's eyes glances at someone very familiar to her left. She stops to take a better look.

The girl saw Mirii sitting on the top of parallel bars! She pulls multiple times at Bars's jacket, to get his attention.

"Look! Over there!" Grina pointed enthusiastically at Mirii.

The boy immediately tracked her: he smiled.

"Wanna talk with her, for a moment?" He asks.

"You bet!" She smiles too.

They run towards their friend: Mirii quickly notices them and reacted in shock.

"Hi Mirii! Finally we found you!" She waves her hand.

"Girl, where have you been yesterday?! We wanted to invite you both for some chowing and dancing!" Bars said dancing briefly.

The shorter girl stares at the Inklings, without showing any emotions.

"… ehm… Mirii?" Grina becomes slightly worried.

"Uuuuhhhmm… why the silence? Aren't you happy to see us?!" Bars was reacting in the same way.

Mirii keeps looking at them, starting to gradually frown.

"Oh, I know Bars… … she's still mad about the other day… right?" She lowers her head in shame, waiting for a response with faint hopes.

As suspected, their friend didn't react at all.

"Look! I… we actually wanted to talk to you, yesterday… well… about that thing happened inside the squad…"

"Yeah, we were greatly looking for that, pal…!"

"I wanted to discuss about that with Hunry and a nice catfish burger in front all of us… but I think it needs to be said now."

"Let me guess: you two really think I'd forgive YOU, after all the things you have done to me! Am I right?" Mirii jumps down from the parallel bars.

"… wait… you are still mad at us?" Grina expanded her eyes surprised.

The shorter girl shakes slowly her head.

"I'm not just mad… **we are enemies now**."

That statement shocked the two Squids, making them panic.

"WHAT?! NO! I-I can't be your enemy! I'm your best friend! No, scratch that! I'm your **sister** , Mirii!"

"Yeah! Me too! You are our sister, Mirii!"

Suddenly, the shorter girl expanded her eyes with anger.

"Retreat immediately what you have said, right in this instance…!" She menaces them, using a serious tone.

Getting scared by her attitude, the two friends walks backwards while sweating.

"W-wait! P-please Mirii, don't act with impulse…! You c-can't let a stupid quarrel have th-the best of us…!" Grina was unable to speak with a reassuring voice.

"I'm NOT your sister! Repeat that, now!" The shorter girl twitches her fingers, like she's about to grab Grina's throat.

"Girl, how could you"

"I SAID TO REPEAT THAT!" She stomped the ground with all her force.

The two Squids stopped in their tracks. Grina's mood dropped drastically, throwing her into the verge of sadness.

"… I… I wanted to say sorry to Hunry, yesterday…" Her eyes appeared watery. "I-I said all those horrible things to him… I-I acted like a true idiot! YES, I WAS THE REAL IDIOT AT THE END! PICKING ON HIM WAS A VERY BIG MISTAKE!"

The girl starts crying a bit.

"P-please, accept my apologies Mirii! L-let's reform **Inkinators** … l-let's be friends once again!"

Mirii slowly turns around, not daring to look at them.

"… that will never happen…" She said in a low voice.

"WHY?! WHY YOU SAY SOMETHING LIKE THAT?!" Grina growled exasperated.

"Because… I still didn't forgive Bars…" Mirii still didn't look at her. "His incompetence, despite unintentional, is too large and heavy to convince ME to join in your squad. Now, if you excuse me…"

The shorter girl walks past the two friends, with her head lowered. Despite the position, Grina could notice that Mirii was sobbing quietly. Seeing her friend in trouble, the girl tried to stop her but Bars blocked her from doing so.

"I KNOW YOU WANT TO BE OUR FRIEND AGAIN, MIRII!" She shouted at Mirii. "PLEASE, COME BACK TO US!"

The shorter girl halts for a second… then she walks again.

"MIRII, PLEASE!"

"COME ON, GIRL! WE NEED YOU!"

The girl was getting away from them.

"MIRIIIII!" The friends shouted at the same time.

Mirii starts running, disappearing from their sight. The Inklings stared at each other, in a loss for words.

"… I saw her crying, Bars…" She broke the silence.

"Really?" The boy passes her a paper handkerchief.

"Yeah." She dries her tears with it. "Mirii truly wants to be our friend again… but maybe we should talk to her later…"

She inhaled through her nose, loudly.

"Let's not waste any more time here and enter into the sewers."

"D-don't call it like that…! Th-that's not a sewer in any way!" He trembles at the thought.

Grina smiles, patting his shoulders.

"I'm friend with the crocodiles: I'll tell them to just eat your little finger." She catches out her tongue.

Bars trembled at the sole idea. The girl giggles and gives him signal to follow her. They both go near the manhole and jumped through its grate in Squid form. They traveled with Bars following Grina, reaching the other side of the pipe and jumping out of it through the other grate.

As soon as they land on the two different but near spots, 3 Octotroopers immediately notice them and start shooting.

"Oh, what's this? The welcoming committee?" Grina rolls to her left, shooting at them.

Her projectiles were very strong: they splatted one Octotrooper in less than a second! Bars jumps in the air, doing a battle cry and splatting one Octotrooper with his melee weapon. The other one got scared and guides his hovercraft towards a rope attached to a bell.

 _DING! DING! DING!_

Grina splatted the Octotrooper by throwing a Burst Bomb.

"Ain't let you sing one more note, Mr. Tent-a-fail!" She said at the small tentacle flying away.

 _GNEEEEEEOOOOOOOOOOOOEEEEEEEEEOOOOOOOO!_

"OH SHIP!" Bars holds his head with his hands. "THE ALARM!"

"Calm down, Bars! Let's see where the buzz is all about!" Grina looks around carefully.

She tracked a stereo speaker blasting the alarm sound through the entire valley. The girl shoots at it, making it fall down and break on impact. However, the sound was still present!

"I hate this music! Would you mind to help me getting rid of it?" She gently asked to Bars.

"As long as I have to clean up the ground!" He grasps more his weapon, as he looks at the ground covered in purple ink.

"Good thing we absorbed the same color during our pipe journey!" She look one of her tentacles, colored magenta. "All right, big boy: do the shower at this mess!"

Bars grins, sprinting at full speed around the ink.

"Wow! I'm faster than Brush the Inkling!" He commented, surprised of his sudden speed.

While the boy was busy covering the ground, Grina shot at the different stereo speakers destroying each of them.

"ENEMIES FROM THE AIR!" Bars runs back, reaching the girl.

Suddenly, 3 Octarians flying on boards and wearing rock-like clothes, were rocking their guitars. Their music produced visible waves, which were flying towards the Squids! They dodged with a lucky roll.

"Rock music? How about METAL?!" She shoots against the aliens, shouting like a metal singer!

They avoided her attacks: one of them dived towards Grina. She jumps backwards throwing a Burst Bomb on his face, making him crash against the ground. The Octarian was stuck on the magenta-colored ink: Grina splatted him with her main weapon.

"AAAWWWW YEEEAAAHHH!" She pretends to rock her weapon.

Bars throws a Suction Bomb right under one of their boards. The unlucky Octarian gasped loudly, while the bomb was about to detonate.

 _BOOOM!_

He flies against the other Octarian and knock him out from his board: both fall on the ground, instantly splatted by Bars's main weapon.

"SHELL YEAH, BARS!" Grina gives a high five at the boy. "That one truly rocked!"

Bars laughed.

"You can say that again, girl!" He grins, utterly excited from the action.

"The tour isn't done yet! Do you see that **camping area**?" The girl points at it. "That's our final box! Let's rock and roll, baby!" She smiles mischievously.

Bars nodded showing his teeth. Before they could move an inch, suddenly the alarm was replaced by an odd music.

"Huh? They got bored of it?" He sighed in relief.

"… I feel weird, Bars." Her arms and legs were getting weaker.

The Inklings become Squids.

"What the?! Why we turned into Squids?!" Bars complained in shock.

"Beats me!" Grina replied, struggling to return into her humanoid form.

"Wait… dasquid?! I can't change into my tall form!" The boy moves his tentacles in panic.

"You too?!" The girl swims near him.

The boy sighs frustrated.

"Great… just TURFING great!" He looks at the purple ink ahead. "How we are going to fight those tentacles now?!"

"The cause is this music, Bars! Since it started, our problems appeared!" She pointed at the stereo speaker with her tentacle. "We have to stop it!"

"How?! I can't jump on those speakers: they are too high!" He tries skeptically. "No, it's impossible..."

"Darn it!" Grina slams a tentacle on the ink. "If Hunry was here with us, the speakers would have been history!"

"Yeah, Hunter is very good at using his Squid ability…"

"Anyway, we are not going to retreat just because we are little Squids. Bars, you will act as a trampoline for me." She swims back, to take a run-up.

"All right!" He rotates to raises his tentacles upwards.

"HERE I COME!" Grina swims at high speed.

She jumps on his tentacles, which the boy quickly pushes with all his strength, letting the girl jump even higher, head-slamming against a stereo speaker. It fell down, breaking once impacted with the ground. Grina falls back, feeling dizzy.

"ARE YOU ALRIGHT?!" Bars massages her head.

A bump was formed on it.

"Ooowww… my head…" She was seeing the stars. "I can't take down another one… I quit the job…"

"Maybe you should wear a helmet?" He caressed the injured girl.

Grina shakes her head, recovering completely her sense.

"If we could find one! Where could it"

 _THERE! OVER THERE!_

 _SPLAT THEM ALL!_

5 Octotroopers were marching aboard their hovercraft towards the two Squids.

"FUNK! RETREAT!" Bars shouts scared.

He swims away as fast as he could! The Octarians go after him, covering their path with purple ink. Quickly after, Grina emerges slightly from the magenta ink: she successfully eluded her enemies!

" _Maybe if I slide on the sides…_ " She looks at them: those weren't covered in purple ink. " _… I could reach their base and destroy the source of this music._ "

The girl jumps on the sides and slide slowly, but safe from the harm of the purple ink. Unfortunately, once she reaches the large and circular area, Grina notices that the camping base was covered all around with purple ink.

" _Drat! I can't get into their base in this state! There must be a way, though… oh, actually… I could borrow some ideas from one of those videogames, Bars plays often! Yeah, like that Squid which keeps jumping on the platforms in order to reach the end._ "

She saw that the structure was resembling a platform level.

" _All right! Gotta play the most realistic version of Squid Jump!_ " Grina frowns in concentration.

The girl jumps on the chairs and tables, throwing war equipments and food away from her path. She could hear the music coming out from a large tent.

" _Ok, running start!_ " She takes another run-up.

Once ready, Grina slides as much as she could doing a farther jump, successfully entering inside the tent: however, she couldn't stop herself and thus, the girl starts rolling ahead crashing against a table. Aside from different tool, on the top of it there was the stereo playing up the dreadful music: it fell down, completely destroyed on impact.

The music no longer plays and Grina could finally turn into her humanoid form again. She gets up, a bit injured from that abrupt landing.

"Ohi ohi ohi… how did I become a steamroller…?" She massages her head. "Ohi… uh? M-my hand?!"

She looks at both her hands and weapon.

"YES! I BROKE THE CURSE!" She jumps from the joy.

The girl quickly comes out from the tent: she immediately shoots magenta ink, while laughing maniacally. Something flew over her head and Grina could glance at it, for just a second: 5 tentacles were flying away.

"Ha ha, Bars took out the pests!" She smiles widely. "No matter what dirty tricks, they may pull out of their hats: we will always be able to ruin their show!"

Grina starts shooting ink again, getting rid of the Octarian ink present in the area.


	12. World 2-3: UFOs and Squids

Grina dries her forehead, as she looks around the camping base: it was now covered with magenta ink, which satisfied the girl.

 _Griiiiinnaaaaa!_

She turns towards Bars: he was swimming inside the ink as a Squid, reaching the girl in no time.

"What happened here?!" He raises, becoming humanoid again.

"Oh, nothing in particular… just fixing their music a bit." She grins, full of confidence.

"Way to go, girl!" Bars does a high five with Grina. "You also obliterated their base out of existence!"

"Nah, don't exaggerate too much… I just did a quick paint job!" She giggles, feeling over the moon.

"But it's a mess now! They have to reconstruct their base from scratch!" He kicks away an empty soda can.

That action made Grina remember something.

"Say Bars, would you like to eat something?" She picks a product of chocolate sticks and shows it to the boy.

Bars looks at it, undecided. His sudden sense of chocolate need made him pick the package.

"Thanks, Grina." He opens it, eager to eat.

"No problem!" She winks, glad to help the friend.

The boy eats a chocolate stick, but he offers some to the girl while chewing.

"Uhm… why not?" She picks one, eating it. "Hmmm! Chocolate forever…"

"Yeah!" He gulps, picking another one.

"I have multiple rounds of chocolate, but it's better to eat them later. I want to get inside the bad guys' hideout and kick their butts for good!" She shakes her head, becoming more serious.

"Munchbut howmunch? Munchwe"

"Eeeewww, Bars!" She puts her hands in front of her mouth. "I don't want to see your disgusting show! Gulp that thing, before talking!"

The boy gulps loudly.

"Sorry… I was saying, how we are going to reach the hideout, if we don't even know where is it?" He picks the last chocolate stick.

"Uhm..."

Grina looks around uncertainly, letting her eyes rest on a fallen chair, a table flipped on its side and papers covered in ink.

"Maybe there is more than meets the eye!" She giggles softly.

"If you say so." He throws away the used plastic package.

Grina frowns, but she quickly shakes her head and start walking towards the tent. Her head was gradually tilting to her right, letting the girl see the tent in a slightly different angle. She increases her pace, walking behind the tent.

"Bars! Come!" She calls him, as soon as she found something!

He reaches the girl, while running and jumping around the fallen furniture.

"What's it now?" He asked, staring at the girl.

She guided him with her forefinger: an UFO was sitting on the ground, unguarded.

"This is our ticket, Bars!" She pats the vehicle. "Those aliens are going to flip once they'll see us riding this beast!"

"Ehm… speaking of riding… I-I don't know how to use it!" He slowly turns his back.

"Nonsense!" She takes him from his shirt's back. "You could perfectly drive a car at the age of 7! Now that you are a true driver veteran, no vehicle is too tricky to drive!"

"Bu-but what if it's a puzzle driving this thing?!" He looks in other directions.

"Come on, Barsy! What's with that sudden fear?!" She frowns disappointed. "Don't tell me, you have another fear in you…"

"What?!" He stomped the ground. "I don't have fear! Actually, I'm immune to it!"

"Then, hop aboard, brave boy!" She climbs the UFO.

He stares at the UFO, trying to think something in the hurry.

"Bars? Why are you still down there?" She raises her eyebrows.

The boy gulped and mumbles something hard to hear. He climbs up the UFO, occasionally punching its metallic walls.

"What are you doing?" She taps the UFO.

"N-nothing! Just checking the walls…" He knocks them.

Grina sighs, focusing on the top of the UFO. There is a clear glass half-ball, which shows the UFO's intern. The girl gets closer, almost diving on it. At first contact, the glass appears very solid.

"Did you find the entrance?" Bars gets up, shaking off his shirt.

"Maybe…" She touches the glass in various points.

"Heh, that thing is sealed." He grins. "Too bad we aren't smart enough to guess the entrance."

Grina walks backwards, unintentionally pushing down a bended piece of metal: a hole opens under Bars's feet. He falls down yelling, getting interrupted only by a loud crashing sound. The girl jumped and quickly looks down the hole.

"BARS, ARE YOU ALL RIGHT?!" She looks left and right.

"Uugghh… I-I'm fine!" His voice was heard.

The girl smiled.

"Move aside! Falling girls above!" She eagerly falls down, touching the floor with her hand.

Bars was massaging his back.

"Th-those tentacles are crazy…" He walks towards the light.

"Sure, but we can be even more crazier!" She hits her own palm. "Now, how do you drive this thing?"

The boy stared at a steering wheel, with pedals under it.

"Uh… actually, this could indeed be a breeze!" He sighs with a smile.

He walks near the seat and caresses it.

"Eh eh… it looks like this is a job for Cars!" He sits on it, grasping the steering wheel and looking through the window.

"That's the spirit!" She throws a punch in the air.

The girl noticed a small screen, next to another seat. She walks rubbing her hands.

"I think to have a little toy to screw around, with!" Grina sit with a jump.

Looking carefully around, she found a small red button. By pushing it, the screen glows showing different cameras, each with a weapon muzzle.

"Oooooh, I know what this game is all about!" She giggles jumping up and down.

"What did you find, girl?" He looks at the girl.

"Our own bad-kicking weapons!" She points at the monitor.

"Fresh!" He smiled with a frown. "I discovered how this thing operates, by the way. I'm ready to groove the skies!"

"Excellent!" Grina rubs her hands. "Proceed with the take-off. I'll study more this videogame!"

He nods and presses a button. A loud noise was heard going through the valley. The boy pulls the lever and pushes the pedal: the vehicle was now flying upwards. Then, he pushes the lever while pushing the pedal to make it fly forward.

The girl gets up and looks carefully around, staring at a semi-opened door. Grina runs, pushing the door out of the way. Inside, there were many transparent large tanks containing purple ink. She opens their cork, shooting magenta ink in each of them, dissolving the purple kind. After covering the last tank, she sealed the tanks with their respective corks.

"Done!" She dries her forehead. "Now the real fun begins!"

"AAAAAH! ALIENS!" Bars shouted.

Grina rushes outside, seeing UFOs with her own eyes.

"Don't worry! I'll splat each of them!" She gets back to her seat.

She touches a camera, which shows the smaller vehicles. Grina touches one of them and the gun instantly fires magenta ink against it: the UFO exploded, with a small tentacle flying away.

"Whoa! Those weapons are so strong!" She claps while giggling.

The other UFOs shoot purple ink against them, but Bars spins the steering wheel making their vehicle dodge all of them. Grina falls down on the ground.

"Hey, watch it Bars!" She grips her seat.

"Sorry!" He moves the steering wheel in various directions. "Still, is there a way to know where to go?!"

"First let's take the enemy down, THEN we'll figure our destination!" The girl sits down and touches different cameras.

Sweat appeared on Bars's forehead.

"W-we really have to…?"

"Yes! They will take down US, if we don't do something! Come on, now! Get closer to those boneheads!"

Bars gulps loudly and his eyes were getting watery. He turns the UFO, towards the smaller vehicles which were approaching. With them, there were also flying fat-looking Octarians wearing propeller hats. They throw out bombs against the Inklings.

The gun shoots the bombs down in midair and was able to hit the flying Octarians on the run. Their UFO was going around in a big circle, eventually diving towards the opponents. This strategy let them take out, multiple vehicles and flying Octarians.

"Shell yeah! Another one down!" Grina comments after making a fat Octarian explode. "Can you get closer to them, Bars, so I can finish them all faster?"

"N-no, don't be s-so hasty!" He trembles.

Grina only stared at him, while not saying a word.

"There is only one UFO and two fatties to splat. What could possible go wrong?!"

"Bu-but"

"Bars! Trust me on this one! I rarely missed any shots!"

Bars watched the smaller UFO chasing them down and the two Octarians chilling far away in the air.

"… ok!" He leaves the pedal, frowning.

The UFO was slowly descending and the girl aims at the smaller vehicle, while chuckling.

"You are going down, tentacle!" She touches the enemy UFO.

The gun shoots the UFO, hitting it several times. Smoke suddenly appears around it.

"Get near, Bars! It's almost done!"

"N-no, wait! That thing is"

"QUICK BARS, BEFORE IT LEAVES!" She touches the monitor rapidly.

The boy pushes the pedal, going quickly near the UFO.

"NO, NOT THIS FAST!" The girl shouted at the top of her lungs.

 _CRAAAAAASSSHHH!_

The smaller vehicle slammed against the Inklings one, exploding purple ink and releasing a flying small tentacle. Black smoke was getting out of their UFO, now. An alarm was blasted its sound inside and red flashes keeps appearing.

"FUNK NOOOO! WE GOT HIT!" He stands up, with his hands on his head.

"CALM DOWN, BARS! LET'S TAKE THE PARACHUTES!" She hastily looks around.

Grina saw a small metallic storage: she opens it, revealing multiple tools including two parachute containers.

"WEAR IT! THEY ARE LARGE ENOUGH FOR US!" She throws one at Bars.

"WHERE IS THE EXIT?!" He took it, while looking around desperately.

"IS THERE!" She points at the door with the sign _EMERGENCY EXIT_ on it, as she wears the container.

The Inklings rushed to the door, after taking their weapons: Bars slams against it, opening the door in the process. They jumped down from their vehicle: the UFO flies towards the valley walls. It crashed on it, exploding magenta ink all around it! Both the young Squid activates the parachutes, gliding in the air. They were far away from the ground.

"OH NO! WE ARE FALLING DOWN THIS PIT!" He shouted moving quickly his legs.

"Bars, stop acting like a seachicken! With those parachutes, we'll land safely!" She looks down, seeing nothing but black.

"E-even if there are deadly spiky rocks under our feet?!"

"Oh… ehm… well…" Her face became paler.

All the sudden, the two flying Octarians appear in the horizon, already throwing their bombs at the friends.

"Argh! We didn't really need this!" She cocked her weapon.

"Oh man… this… SUCKS!" He grasped his weapon, gritting his teeth.

Once the enemies were near enough, Grina shoots at them while throwing Burst Bombs at their own bombs. Bars swings his weapon, hitting both the opponents. One of them was getting near the girl, which she rapidly shot at.

The Octarian exploded in magenta ink, flying away as a fatter tentacle. The blast knocked the girl away, ruining her parachute. She falls down faster towards the pit.

"NNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" He stretches his arm towards the falling girl.

Grina disappears in the obscurity, along with her scream.

The boy swings his weapon rapidly, hitting the Octarian and make him explode like the other one. Bars was breathing quickly and his eyes were getting watery.

"GRRRIIIIIIIIINNNAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

He receives no response, except his own echo. As he enters the void, everything was becoming gradually clear. Bars could see giant panels reflecting a clear sky, hanging on the underground walls. He slammed his eyelids multiple times, before realizing the sudden change of scenery.

He dropped his jaw, at the first sight of floating buildings, trams riding on twisting rails and cars speeding through flying roads. The cars occasionally jump over gaps using specific ramps.

"… w-what kind of SHIP I'm looking at?!" He shakes his head multiple times.

Looking down, the boy noticed that he was landing near a group of trees. The parachute got stuck between them and the ropes slowly snapped, making Bars fall abruptly on the ground. He gets up, groaning faintly. He touches his belly, occasionally interrupting his breathes.

Bars picked up his smartphone and sighs. He touches its screen, going through the Call menu. He pushes an icon with Grina's face on it and slowly put the phone near his ear, as he stops breathing for a moment.


	13. World 2-4: Octopolis Invasion!

Bars was walking around, waiting impatiently for that familiar voice. However, he couldn't even hear the calling sound! Suspecting a problem coming from his smartphone, he took an inspecting look at the small screen.

What he found was a text block reading: _No signal!_

" _Darn! That's why the thing wasn't chirping! I need to find a way to contact Grina… or at least finding her well._ " He was getting on the verge of desperation.

At a first look, the boy could see trees, some benches…

" _Is this a park? But there is nothing in the horizon, except for those gigantic panels!_ " He slowly walks near the park's edge.

Peeking down, Bars was covered by an uncontrollable sense of fear: there was nothing, but a bottomless pit!

He crawls backwards, scared by such image.

" _Gu-gulp! Th-this place is some crazy ship! Is even possible to have a normal life inside this nonsensical wasteland?! Brrrr!_ "

The young Squid gets up, deciding to explore more this area. The thoughts of falling down were tormenting the Inkling, making him hesitate to proceed in many occasions. Thanks to his concern about Grina, Bars boosts up his courage and letting him dare to reach the end of the park.

What he noticed ahead was a distant metallic platform floating in the air.

" _Oh great, I'm stuck on this small island!_ " He stomps the ground.

The ground didn't make the sound, the boy would expect: looking down for curiosity, he could glance at a deactivated panel.

" _What's this? I… wait, isn't this a Super Jump panel?! Wow, talk about luck!_ "

He jumps back and swings his weapon towards the panel: magenta ink completely covered it, turning on the device.

" _Now the question is… will my Super Jump bring me to that platform over there? Well… only one way to find out!_ "

Bars steps on the panel, sighing in fear. He becomes a Squid and prepares for his Super Jump: the boy launches himself flying in the direction of the metallic platform. He landed heavily on it.

"Phew! Man…" He looks behind, surprised about the gap he recently crossed.

A spooky sound suddenly echoes from the Inkling's back. He took a glimpse from the eye's tail, seeing multiple purple smokes. He turns around, grasping his weapon: from the smoke, Octotroopers appear! Some of them were carrying a shield too!

Bars jumps on them, shouting a battle cry: he manages to splat 3 Octotroopers in a row! The shielded ones blocked his ink with ease. The Squid got hit by a slow purple projectile and instantly feeling a huge pain. He screamed in agony.

He throws a Suction Bomb behind, while retreating inside his own ink. The enemies ran away, avoiding the explosion. As soon as two unshielded Octarians flip horizontally, the Inkling jumps out of the magenta pond and crushed both with the weapon's head.

He didn't have time to show his ego: back in the ink, he goes! The remaining Octotroopers, still grasping their shields, were trembling as they look carefully at the magenta mess seen on the ground. Out of nowhere, a Suction Bomb was thrown above them.

They rapidly rotate in its position, hoping that their shield is capable of blocking the next attack. They ignored Bars, which executes a jumping tackle, splatting the last opponents before the bomb detonates.

"There you go!" He lays his weapon down, revealing his white teeth.

Walking near the end of the platform, Bars steps accidentally on a small button. The footboard violently raises up, making the teenage boy losing his balance. In the same manner, it stops in midair. Bars leans on his legs, scratching his head.

" _Screw those stupid aliens! They have like the weirdest logic in the universe! What's the point of this stupid button? Is this an elevator I'm riding on?! An… elevator…? Wait a second!_ "

He hastily takes his smartphone and quickly touches through the menus, until he reaches Grina's icon. After pressing on it, he puts the phone on his ear. This time, it was possible to hear calling sounds.

" _Cool! Getting high enough to have some signal! Now, I hope to see some other_ _ **vital signals**_ _as well…_ "

"Bars?!" Grina's voice ringed through the boy's mind.

"GRINA!" He shouted cheerfully. "WHERE ARE YOU?!"

"Where am I?" The girl checks around the zone.

She was on a deserted road, separated from the main ones. It keeps going downhill, until it halts in front of a small plaza inclined normally.

"Ehm… what happens if I tell you, that I'm standing still in the middle of a floating road?" She fears her description.

"With cars zooming by, jumping voids through ramps?" He asked.

"Bars, I-I'm not joking this time!" She frowns seriously. "I'm literally living a nightmare!"

"And I'm in the same one, girl!"

Grina finally realized the meaning of his words and whips around anxiously hoping to find him.

"No, I can't see you from here!" She said sadly. "Just floating boxes…"

"Heh, do you know this whole place reminds me of a videogame? Except you don't get stuck aboard this boring platform…"

"Not to mention, you only get one life." She snorted.

"True story! Ehm… I hate to ask this, but… could you please help me?" He was regretting the question.

"You mean, _save_ you?" She snickered.

"NO! I'M NOT INSIDE ANY CAGE!" He complained.

"Ooooh, then you don't need any help at all! Your bouncy legs are good enough to explore the Notland of Wastetown."

Bars didn't say anything for a short while… then he replied with groans, making Grina giggle.

"Stay there as a good little Squid, while this Inkling is going to save the day, ok?"

His groans became louder.

"Eh eh, latOr!" The girl pushes the red phone button to end the call.

She walks down the road, with a bright smile. Unintentionally, she kicks an old can making it roll all the way down the road: it opens up all at once, revealing an intense light. Grina's eyes sparkled, as her curiosity drives her to inspect the item.

She runs down the road, impatient to find out the contents of the mysterious can. The girl reaches it, almost tripping on the ground! She stretched her arm inside the light… feeling a sudden power crawling through her body!

"Whoa! Is this… a Special weapon running in my veins?!" She grins widely, glowing intensively.

Out of nowhere, purple smoke appears in the plaza, bringing 5 Octotroopers formed with two tentacles instead of one!

"Perfect! I really needed some ninepins!" Her weapon assumes the Inkzooka form.

She shoots tornados against the Octarians, while they just realized her tremendous advantage. The speed of the tornados was high enough to not let the enemies avoid them. The aliens got hit by one tornado each, not having the chance to shoot at the girl once.

The special power ran out, turning the weapon back to its original shape.

"One word: AWESOME!" She jumps from the joy!

From the ground, a wall emerges blocking the path next to the plaza!

"… one word: LAAAAAMMMEEEEE!" The girl snorted, as she picks up her phone.

The girl touches the screen, calling back her friend.

"Yes?" He asked.

"Bars, guess what?" She looks at the wall, disappointed.

"You are stuck too?!"

"Yep… isn't that wonderful?" She punches the wall. "I can't do anything here, Bars. You have to find the best idea you can muster inside your brain!"

"Easier said than done, girl! How am I suppose to reach anything from this solitaire footboard?!" He walks around, opening his arms.

"Instead of complaining, could you attempt to think about a vague solution? At least that?"

Bars thinks about it… and casually steps on the same button again. The platform starts moving, going into a different point in the sky.

"Aaaaah, FUNK!" He falls down. "Here it goes again!"

"Wha? Hey, surprise boy! Could you give me some news flash?" Grina taps the floor, impatiently.

"The platform acting weird! It dragged me somewhere, earlier! And now, it's repeating that!"

"That doesn't make any sense! How could a"

Looking randomly a point above her head, she could see from the corner of her right eye, a flying metallic island stopping nearby.

"Did your tram stops in this very moment?" She asks, squeezing her eyes hoping to see someone on the top of it.

"Ehm… yeah? Why that question…?" Bars walks near the edge, to his left.

"I see you!" She waves her arms at him.

"Me too!" He waves his hand. "But I'm still too far away…"

"Then, this means you are going to take an **alternate route**. Turn right, please…"

Bars does what Grina told him to: he saw two floating silver boxes a bit away from each other. The second one had a visibly red button.

"W-w-w-w-wait! Yo-you don't me… I… I-I have to…" He starts to shiver.

"Hey, didn't you do a metaphor with videogames? Now you are going to live the thrilling experience… live!"

"Bu-bu-bu-but I-I could fall… I-I don't have an-any parachutes!"

"Bars… did you forget that in videogames, you have a time limit? The Octarians wouldn't mind blowing up that rusty giant panel you are standing on."

The last speech made the boy realize that possibility. He gulps, sweating all over his body.

"Ok! I-I'll do it!" He pushes the red phone button.

He took a careful look about the situation.

" _Uhm… this kinda looks like that Squid drill I did in the past… oh… OH, RIGHT!_ "

The boy didn't hesitate to cover a path with his weapon, up until the first box. He throws a Suction Bomb, on the second box to cover it with ink as well. A last swing and the second box's walls are now colored in magenta. The girl was watching the scene, while holding her breath.

Bars stood there for a moment, while mumbling something incomprehensive. Then, he becomes a Squid and swims inside the ink, going as fast as he could. At the edge of the platform, he performs a small jump keeping his momentum. At the edge of the first box, he took the biggest jump he could make!

He falls inside the covered wall, climbing up the second box with ease. Grina jumps with joy, cheering the boy up!

He returns humanoid, drying his forehead and proudly pushes the red button. The wall was now lowered.

"Way to go, scared boy! I knew you could defeat the evil gap!"

Bars raises his thumb, but abruptly the box moves on his own, stopping far from any large grounds. The girl hits her forehead with her palm.

"I can't believe this… they sure are jokers, though!" She laughs a bit, while walking into the next area.

There were 4 metallic crates sitting around the squared area. In front of the girl, there was a door locked up with a giant padlock.

"Oooh, how cute! They tried to block my path with just a single padlock! Tsk… they forgot that THIS girl can unlock safes without even looking at it!"

As she walks near the padlock, a battle cry was heard: from above, a female Octoling landed right in front of the girl's face.

"What the?! Wh-who are you?!" She walks back, cocking her gun.

"I'm an Octoling, fatty!" She cocks her gun, aiming at Grina. "And I'm going to pop that balloon you carry around in your belly!"

Grina gasps loudly.

"… you signed your declaration war, skinny. NO ONE GETS AWAY WITH"

She couldn't finish the sentence: the Octoling started shooting at the girl! Grina jumps back, shooting against the Octarian. She throws Burst Bombs, forcing the alien to retreat behind a crate. Grina shoots around, covering the ground with her own ink. Aside from her weapon, no other noises were heard.

" _So, this girl plays defensive huh…_ " She thought.

Grina throws a bomb high: it flies behind the crate. A yell was heard. The Octoling rushed from behind the crate, desperately trying to dive inside her purple ink. She becomes an Octopus and hides into her purple pond. Grina shot in the same exact point where the Octoling dived into, making her explode.

"Arrivederci, idiot!" She laughs, pointing at a small Octopus flying away.

Taking another look at the area, Grina could distinguish a large gold key.

"Aaawww yeah! The gold trophy for the fatty!" She throws in the air, catching it with her hand.

Grina walks near the padlock, unlocking the padlock with the key: the door opens automatically.

"Finally a huge area!" She enters in.

Accidentally, she presses a button on the floor: the box where Bars was standing, drastically moves at full speed towards the girl! She dives, avoiding the sudden attack. The boy flies off, landing on the ground with his back.

"Bars!" She said, as the girl dashes up to him. "Are you all right?!"

 _Mwa ha ha ha ha ha haaaaa!_

Grina turns her back, watching the source of the creepy laugh.


	14. World 2 Boss - Octopot Unleashed!

The girl was staring a giant pot, off gold colored with old drawings depicting octopuses.

"A giant talking pot?! Is this the best threat you can come out with?!" She walks ahead.

"Yeah! Talk about utterly lame!" Bars reaches the girl, after getting up.

 _Utterly lame is your pathetic insults!_

From the inside of the pot, two Octolings come out! One was a male and the other one was a female. The young girl sit on the pot's board, while the young man was standing on it. Quickly after, a round Octorian jumps outside the pot, followed by a flying one.

The one-eyed Octarian was almost falling off, being timely rescued by the girl.

"So we meet again… Inkling!" Virini smiles creepily.

Grina becomes confused from her statement.

"Wait… you aren't that idiot I splatted before!" She points at her, surprised.

"Hmpf, you have guts to insult my friend like that… don't you?!" Virini does a disappointed grimace.

"She started it!" Grina growled. "No one calls me fatty and gets away with it!"

"But we did get away, yesterday…" She lowers her eyelids mischievously, followed by a larger smile. "Too bad you couldn't remember anything."

The girl opened her mouth, in shock.

"WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?!" The Inkling girl was going to the edge of her patience.

"We are talking about the **sea-horse**." Tys intervenes. "She manipulated you, in her attempt to rescue the old fart."

Grina's eyes expanded gradually, not believing at her own ears.

"She… SHE MANIPULATED ME?!" Her words echoes all over the place.

"Female sea-horses can do that to female Inklings and female Octolings." Virini offered a little explanation.

"Her lack of experience let us have the upper-hand in our previous battle…" His hand grasps the air "… now, the whole merit will fall on our **Special Weapon**."

Grina exploded in a loud laugh.

"A giant pot? Really?! Pfffff! Hahahahaha!" She falls on the ground, rolling left and right.

The two Octolings were both shaking their heads, disgusted to see how close minded Grina was acting in their regards. Virini snaps her fingers: the team falls back inside the pot. The girl stops laughing, noticing the odd behavior of her enemies.

With great surprise, giant sharp tentacles come out from the pot's sides! Then, a huge octopus head pops out from it, looking at the Squids threateningly. The monster was composed by metallic materials.

 _Here is our Special Weapon! Cool huh?_

The voice of Virini was heard. The girl gulped, while feeling to become smaller.

 _What's that? You don't laugh at it anymore? Ooooh, poor little fatty… she's getting scared!_

"W-we are going to stop it!" The girl tries to muster up all the courage she can get. "No matter how menacing your toy looks like!"

 _You really think so? This robot is designed to take down any puny Squids it can find. And the best thing is how you are facing the_ _ **prototype version**_ _!_

"Ehm, Grina…" Bars taps her shoulder.

"What's it, Bars?"

"How about we make it like an ink and SPLAT?!" He trembles.

"And let them have the last laugh?! Not even under torture!" She cocks her gun. "I'm going to send that piece of junk, back to the dump it came from!"

 _Ha ha ha! I want to see YOU try, midget! … huh? Can you repeat that, Bombo?_ _ **We could use the Octo music against them?**_ _This is a fight test, to verify the robot's skills... so they denied that tool for us. And besides, if that music starts, me and Tys are forced to become Octopuses, losing control of the machine!_

Grina dries her forehead, hearing the news.

 _We don't need any stinkin' help, anyway! Say your prays, Inklings!_

The tentacles started to spin around the pot, like an helicopter: it flies up, marching against the friends.

"MOVE ASIDE, BARS!" Grina runs in a direction.

The boy runs in another, both avoiding the sharp tentacles. Grina shoots the pot, but the tentacles reflected her projectiles!

 _Ha ha ha! It's impossible to hit the pot! As you can see, the tentacles are capable to reflect anything harmful! Without any means of attacks, your only choice is to surrender!_

"NEVER!" Grina cried out, shaking her fist. "There must be a weak-point, somewhere!"

 _Like if you could find any! Have a taste of our homing missiles!_

From the hole, two purple missiles were flying towards the Inklings! The girl desperately shoots at one of them, covering it in ink. Surprisingly, the now-magenta missile changes his target, flying back to the pot.

"BARS!" Grina could see Bars running away in fear. "COLOR THE DARN THING!"

The boy took a while to turn, but was enough to successfully swing his weapon and spread ink all over the missile!

 _CURSES!_

The robot tried to evade the missiles, but they were too fast for it: they hit the pot, forcing it to land abruptly. The octopus's head spring up and down from the pot and the tentacles stop moving.

"This is our chance to snap back!" The girl gives sign to attack the head.

Grina dashes near, shooting and throwing Burst Bombs against the head. Bars throws one Suction Bomb, which sticks on the octopus's cheek, detonating in a wide blast. The time for the counter-attack didn't last too long: the tentacles start to spin again!

The friends retreat inside their ink, swimming away from the danger.

 _You got lucky, Inklings! But what are you going to do, if we don't shoot any missiles?!_

The pot tries to run over them, with its tentacles.

"This is not good!" Grina shouted. "There must be another way to attack the Octo-in-a-box!"

"I have an idea, girl!" He reaches her, whispering something on her ear.

"Oh… aaaah!" She chuckles.

"Understood?" He winks.

"Yep!" She returns the gesture.

They turn their backs, facing the pot seriously. Grina becomes a Squid and Bars grabs her with only one hand. He sprints, looking closely at the pot… then, he throws Grina as far as he could! The Squid dives down, entering inside the pot.

 _WHAT IN THE WORLD?!_

Only the weapon was heard, shooting the top of the retreated octopus head. It springs back up, launching the girl high in the air! In that instant, her tank was glowing.

"BOMB RAIN, COMING UP!"

Grina throws many Burst Bombs down, which they fall at ludicrous speed! Each of them, hit the octopus! With an agile stomp, the girl jumps back down severely damaging the robot with her feet.

 _Grrrrrrr… THAT'S IT! YOU ASKED FOR IT!_

Violently, the tentacles were spinning so fast, that the pot was dashing around the area! There was no way for the Inklings to outrun it, like before.

"FUNK!" Bars dives away, avoiding the flying pot for a millimeter.

 _Hahahahahaha! We are unstoppable now! Prepare to become wasted Squid rings!_

Grina… was smiling, standing still in front of an abandoned building.

"Hey you! Come and get ME, Octoloser!" She pulls down her right eyelid, catching out her tongue.

 _GETTING EGOISTIC DON'T YOU?!_

The robot charges against the girl! She was still there, smiling…

 _GAME OVER, INKLING!_

Grina becomes a Squid, avoiding the pot: it crashes against the edifice, with full speed! The tentacles stop working, being damaged by the impact. The head pops entirely out, landing on the ground. The friends didn't hesitate to attack it, with their main weapons!

"Wait, Grina! My Special Weapon is ready!" He grins, while looking at the bright light.

"Then" The girl bows. "To you the honor."

 _Nononono, wait! You wouldn't_

Bars takes out the Killer Wail…

 _ARGH! THEY AREN'T LISTENING!_

He aims at the head…

 _QUICK! WE HAVE TO GET OUT BEFORE_

A sudden blast completely destroys the head, throwing away the 4 Octarians out of it. They crashed against a wall, leaving their body signs on it.

"YYYEEEEEESSSSS!" Grina hugs Bars, lifting him for a bit. "WE DID IT, BARS!"

"Eh eh eh…" He blushes shyly. "I did nothing…"

"Nothing?! You saved the day, Bars! You"

All the sudden, a familiar music rocks through the area.

"… oh… oh no…"

The Inklings become Squids.

"NOT AGAIN!" Grina squealed.

"Th-they aren't giving up, girl!" He slams his tentacle on the ground.

Purple smoke was appearing around the friends…

"Not just that… they are mad!" She swims away. "Let's try to find the exit, big boy!"

Bars follows the girl, without hesitation. They unintentionally swim in front of a wall!

"NO! NOT THE WALL OF DOOM!" She whips around.

Trotting rapidly, were different kinds of Octarians!

"This is the end… we are their prisoners, now!" The boy trembles.

 _Kids! This way!_

They instantly twisted their faces towards the voice, staring at an old kettle.

 _Jump in! Quick!_

Scared of the aliens, they Inklings rushed into the kettle. Once inside, the boiler whistles loudly and then launches both through a thick tube, with an explosion. The friends were screaming, zipping through the entire pipe.

They hop out of another kettle, situated on the surface. They fly in midair, returning into their humanoid form. They look at each other briefly, before falling down towards the ground. Bars landed first, then Grina on his back.

"YEOUCH!" He yelped.

"S-sorry Bars!" She stands up, helping the boy out.

While raising, the girl shakes off the dust sticking on his shirt.

"The stunt was already crazy enough! Who in the world helped us out?!" She asks incredulous.

 _That would be us!_

Turning their faces, Grina and Bars were greeted by two adult female Inklings.

"Hello!" The first one waves her hand. "Did you had fun back in **Octopolis**?"

"Octopolis…?" Grina repeats the name, finding something weird about it.

"Yes, that's the city you visited earlier…" The second one explains.

"… hey, hold the phone! I know you two!" Bars points both the women. " **You are Agent 1 and Agent 2!** "

"Ding!" Agent 1 claps. "Correct answer!"

"You really know them, Bars?!" Grina asked surprised.

"Yeah, they helped me and Mirii back when Hunter was missing." He explains briefly.

"Oh…" She smiles. "Then, they are allies!"

"You can say that…" Agent 2 sighs. "Unfortunately, we aren't here to save you…"

Grina becomes slightly confused.

"No?"

"No. I have a question for you… **did you happen to see an old man, around here?** "

In a jiffy, the girl understood perfectly what was going on.

"You… ehm… you didn't find his house… or… should I say… **you found the remains of his house** …" The girl moves her foot in a circle.

Both the agents were listening, gradually becoming worried…

"The thing is… yes, we saw him."

"WHERE IS HE?!" Agent 1 shouted.

"They have him… and I'm the one to blame for everything."

A heavy silence fell in the scene…

"What did you do…?" Agent 2 broke the silence.

"I… didn't believe in him… I didn't thought that those creatures really exist… so… I left him alone, with that sea-horse…"

"Wait, Grina!" He rests his hand on her shoulder. "Don't say that! We never saw an Octarian before! How could you believe such stories, without any proof?!"

"Bars… stuff it, please." She pushes his hand away, moving forward. "Nothing can justify my actions… and those two must know him, since they came in this forgotten valley."

The agents didn't response, listening carefully at the girl.

"I… I'm going to the police! I'll tell them to throw inside their coldest jail, eat the key and forget that I even exist! All of that, with you two"

"Wait a minute!" Agent 1 stops her, agitated. "We don't want to arrest you!"

Grina stood in silence. Agent 2 smiled.

"Despite your questionable behavior, it's true that you ventured inside Octopolis…"

"Well… we did… but there was no trace of that old man!" She shouted, feeling her heart gripped in despair. "We didn't even know, that their city was underground! We should thank our luck, if we managed to land on solid ground!"

"Not to mention, we were forced to become Squid!" He adds. "That stupid music, man…!"

"Music? M-music can do that?!" Agent 1 trembles.

"You bet it can!" Grina smiles, confidently. "That emergency exit was pretty hand, since they used that melody again!"

"We used a secret kettle, in order to reach Octopolis… well, not so much since we active it just a moment ago in front of their faces. We heard you two screaming during your battle and tried to get your attention… too bad, that you never got the time to pay attention at us." Agent 2 explains firmly.

"Wait, how did you know that we were in this valley?!" Bars asked puzzled.

"They told us, silly!" Agent 1 reassured. "Actually, they mentioned you two almost randomly!"

"We were expecting to see two young Inklings… so, we made the decision to _trust_ the screams."

"And Squid, you did good!" The young girl does the V sign. "But for now, it's better to get back inside the whatever nightmare, we were living!"

"Grina, they are going to use their music again, remember?!" He reminds about the unavoidable trap.

"Oh… you are right! Drat!" She stomps the ground. "How are we going to past that…?"

The 4 Inklings thought about it… until Agent 2 smiles again.

"I have an idea…" She announces. "Follow us."

"Where?!" Agent 1 asked, in panic.

"Agent 1, trust me on this one… I think that **him** wouldn't mind, hearing something related to the Octarians…"

"You… you think?" Agent 1 thinks about it.

"Yes. I know what I'm doing…"

Agent 1 looks at her, for a moment… then she smiles, nodding.

"Then, it's settled." Agent 2 announced. "We are bringing them to him and hope to achieve a solution."

Grina and Bars look at each other, in confusion.

"Please, follow us." Agent 2 repeats, while moving towards the manhole.

"Don't worry! We don't bite!" Agent 1 promised, talking in a joke tone and catching up with her colleague.

After a while, Grina pats Bars with a reassuring smile. The friends follow the agents, leaving the solitaire valley.


	15. World 3-1: Fighting against the War

The sky was colored with a vibrant light-blue color, watching over Inkopolis. Grina was looking around multiple times, while following the two agents together with Bars.

"Pssss, Barsy…" She whispered near his ear.

He snorted, whipping his head on her direction.

"What?" He replied in a low voice.

"Aren't you noticing something weird?" She took a quick glance at the two young women.

Bars looks around.

"It looks pretty calm… why?"

"That's the thing, genius." She gets closer to him. "Since when Inkopolis is this calm?"

"Ahem!"

The two friends quickly look ahead, jumping a bit. Agent 1 was staring at them while walking.

"Talking from behind is not corteous!" She frowns.

Grina giggled lowly.

"Complete nonsense! We hate talking from behind!" She looks up, with a smile.

Agent 1 was smiling too.

"Since you are this close to him, I assume you want to hug your male friend!"

Suddenly Grina and Bars become red on their faces, leaving their mouths open. Agent 1's smile grew even more.

"Eh eh, to think we are almost the end of summer…!" She turns ahead, letting a laugh coming from her mouth.

"We are almost there…" Agent 2 announced, without turning. "Please, act rigorously."

The two friends weren't looking at each other for a while, before their faces returned to their normal skin color.

"Sooo… where are we going, again?" Grina takes quick glances at Bars.

"To the Headquarters! That's where our boss is at the moment!" Agent 1 looks at both the young Inklings.

"The boss, huh..." The girl thinks about it.

"Can you see that building over there?" Agent 1 points at it. "This is our destination!"

"Whoa! That building looks like another planet…" Her eyes expanded.

"You can say that again! You should see our rooms and"

Agent 2 coughed.

"Ah… well… come to think of it, we live normally inside." She returns looking ahead. "Yep! Normally and nothing else!"

Grina tilted her head slightly.

" _That building is hiding a secret or what?_ " She thought on herself, looking at Bars.

He shrugs at her. The girl was saying something, before being interrupted by Agent 2.

"One more thing… no one has to know about this building and the activities held inside. Understand?"

Grina grins gradually.

"And why that request? Is there something illegal in there?"

"No… and I can't explain the reasons here. **She could still be around**."

" _She? Who's this mysterious female?_ " Grina thought. " _Wish I could ask that, but Miss Ice doesn't seem too friendly today… and I don't want to give trouble to Laughing girl over there._ "

The group of Inklings reached the main entrance. Agent 2 inserts a card in a fitting hole.

 _Click_.

She pushes the door, followed by everyone else. Once indoors, Grina let out a small squeak and Bars holds the girl: they were looking at a crowd of Inklings, a shark and a short Inkling. Where their eyes rested the most was on… Mirii and Hun!

"YOU?!" Mirii shouted, pointing at Grina.

"What the?!" Grina backs away a little. "Mirii?!"

"There is also Hunter!" Bars points at him.

"Drat! We entered in the wrong moment…" Agent 1 whispered to Agent 2, without turning her head and trying to cover her mouth.

"Stuff it, Agent 1… Mr. ToothPale is"

"What's the meaning of this?!" The shorter man shouted, making an angry face. "Why Agent 1 and 2 brought those kids inside the Headquarters?!"

Agent 2 closed the door, while her colleague starts speaking.

"Mr. ToothPale! You wouldn't guess how honored we are, to meet you again…!" Agent 1 rubs her hands, giggling behind her teeth.

"Our presence is not inopportune… actually, this is an emergency request." Agent 2 gave a bump on Agent 1's shoulder.

"Emergency? But your colleagues didn't report any." The shark man spoke.

"Well, that's because the problem lies deep in Octo Valley…" She looks at him.

A brief silence followed up.

"Agent 2! You aren't seriously suggesting that"

"I'm not suggesting, Mr. Tarfo." Agent 2 walks near Grina and Bars. "I'm proving it with the presence of those young heroes. They bravely entered inside Octopolis and fought against the Octo Army relying only in their illegal weapons."

Mr. ToothPale rubs his chin, while looking at the weapons Grina and Bars are holding.

"Yes, I can see the illegal weapons." He replied, doing a normal expression. "But I don't see the reason why they would venture into that city…"

"The reason is to rescue **your old friend**. He was kidnapped by the Octarians…" She lowers her cap, looking down for a moment.

"My friend… is kidnapped?" His voice became rustier.

"Yes... the Octarian destroyed his house too."

Another moment of silence, followed up.

"… I request the names of the two Inklings…"

"I'm Grina and this is Bars." Grina points at herself and Bars, with a smile.

"Grina and Bars…" The man repeated, looking over Mr. Tarfo. "I handle the nominations to you, Mr. Tarfo. Except Miss Kelpshell, of course…"

Mirii gasps loudly.

"Mr. ToothPale, if you could please give me… the chance to hear my little observation…" He bows lightly, making a wide smile.

"Not now. I have a meeting to attend in about 30 minutes." Mr. ToothPale turns his back and walks away.

"Mr. ToothPale, please! I'm sure you would agree with me! Please…" Mr. Tarfo chases him.

Both turned behind a corner, disappearing from everyone's sight. Mirii starts sobbing, then covering her eyes. Everyone walked near the now crying girl.

 _I'm sorry for what happened before._

 _You are not alone! We hate him too!_

 _Please, be strong…_

The short girl received pats on her back, from different Inklings.

"Excuse for our rudeness, but we have to bring Mirii outside…" Agent 2 announced.

"Yeah, otherwise SCHEEEEEEEKKK!" Agent 1 simulates someone being hanged.

"No, I refuse… I deserve to stay here…"

"Mirii, you can't. Until you get permission, your stay is denied…" Agent 2 lays her hand on Mirii's shoulder, while shaking her hand.

"I don't care about any permission!" Mirii growled, while throwing away the hand. "I completed the trial and now I want to be officially nominated as a respectable agent!"

Agent 2 sighs, saying "Mirii, please… the situation is more complicated than it looks like."

 _She's right!_

 _Please, understand Agent 2!_

 _Mr. Tarfo can't fight that man!_

"SILENCE!" No one talked anymore. "I can fight anyone who opposes my march towards perfection! I will triumph over my enemies and claim perfect dominance! No one dared to challenge this prodigy and"

"I did." Grina points at herself, with a grin.

"… yyooouuuu…" Mirii rubs her teeth.

"Problem?" She catches out her tongue.

Mirii's breath was roaring through the entire room entrance.

"… you better run…"

"Ok!" Grina opens the door. "But don't take too long chirping happily with your male friend!"

Mirii and Hun became extremely red on their faces: smoke was coming out from the short girl's ears.

"NNNNNGGGRRRRRRRRRR!" Mirii runs after Grina.

Bars and the two agents joined the chase too!

"COME BACK HERE, GRINA! YOU ARE GOING TO PAY FOR THIS!" Her hands were trying to grab the running girl.

"Eh eh, so the fatty can run pretty fast when she wants to, huh?" Grina comments, without turning her back.

"YOUR STAMINA WILL NOT LAST TOO LONG!" Mirii runs at even more speed.

Someone was holding the short girl, forcing her to gradually stop running.

"WHO'S HOLDING ME?!" Mirii tries to look behind.

"That would be us!" Agent 1 waves her hand.

"Mirii, could you please calm down…?" Agent 2 was slightly frowning.

"… Grina…" The girl was breathing loudly. She could see Grina walking back. "You dare to come back, after your previous taunts…?"

"Yeah, so?" She holds the back of her head. "I don't run away from a friend, you know…"

"F-FRIEND?! We are NOT friends! I told you many times!" Mirii tries to move forward.

"Uhm? You were friends…?" Agent 1 asked to Grina.

"Yeah! But not just any boring friends… we were a team!" She shows her fist.

"The girl is right!" Bars reaches the group, panting. "Uff… we are the Inkinators…"

"NO, WE ARE NOT!" Mirii barked! "WE ARE BITTER ENEMIES!"

"Don't lie to us, Mirii." Agent 2 was still holding her shoulder. "We remember your alliance with Bars…"

"Yeah, why are you treating your friends this bad…?" Agent 1's voice changed its tone slightly.

"BECAUSE… … because… … they… … Bars destroyed something very important… and Grina attacked Hunley without any reasons…" Mirii's body was less rigid.

"Yes, that's true…" Grina no longer smiles, looking down. "I couldn't stand her insults against Bars… he didn't want to cause trouble…"

"Yeah man…" He walks near Mirii. "I'm still sorry for that incident…"

Agent 2 leaves her hand, letting Bars rest his hand on her shoulder. Mirii wasn't reacting in any way.

"I admitted my mistakes! And I always will!" Grina shouted, while walking near her friend.

"… but admitting mistakes will not fix the problem… that data was the solution for Hunley's disease…"

"HE HAS A DISEASE?!" Agent 1 screamed, making the three Inklings jump. "OH NO! THIS IS TERRIBLE!"

"Yep… terrible indeed…" Grina looks away for a moment.

"I still don't remember anything of it… the only thing I can confirm is the impossibility to retrieve it again… sigh… poor Hunley…" Tears were coming down from Mirii's eyes.

"So… is this the reason?" Agent 2 asked, keeping her expression the same.

Mirii nodded, drying her eyes. Grina took something from her pocket and hands off a paper handkerchief at her friend.

"Use this, Mirii." She smiled.

Mirii look at it… then she took it and sneezes on.

"Thanks…" She stores it in her pocket.

"Mirii."

The girl turns over Agent 2.

"Is there another cure for this disease…?" She asked.

"Yes. A medical machine, which is expensive to use… Mr. Tarfo promised to help Hunley, if he works for him." Mirii sighs loudly.

"Mr. Tarfo… …" Agent 2 smiles. "Then, I think you can rest assure. That man may appear like a monster… but he has a heart of gold. Trust me."

"… he said that the government is the only one capable to cure him…"

That statement made Agent 2 bite her own lips.

"True… but I'm sure that his performance as an agent, will grant him the possibility to live longer."

"His parents told us that not even Mr. Tarfo knows what dangers he's going to face… which it makes me worried for him…"

"Don't worry, Mirii!" Grina lays her hand on the top of Bars's hand. "We can help Hunry! When we use teamwork, no one can"

"Wait a second, Grina…" Mirii frowns slightly. "I never said to forgive you…"

Grina gasps, leaving her hand.

"Bu-but Mirii"

"That quarrel only proved how teamwork is impossible to achieve inside the Squad. Bars made a huge mistake… who's going to prove that this will not happen again?!" Mirii barks, freeing herself from the grasps of the others.

"Mirii, mistakes happen all the time!" She walks back, sweating.

"No, they should NEVER happen! That's the fact I want to see the most!" Mirii walks towards Grina, while pointing at her.

"Anyway, how did the trial go, Mirii?" Agent 1 asked reaching her.

"My… trial… …" She looks away. "… just a minor error… that's all."

"Did you fail it?" Agent 2 reaches her too.

Mirii frowns once more.

"No! I completed the trial! That man wouldn't stop throwing me moronic lies about my performance!" She rigidify her body.

"… you failed it, don't you?" Agent 2 folds her arms.

Mirii looks back.

"… sigh… I was about to say something very important… if it wasn't for their inopportune moment!" Mirii growls at Grina.

"What?! What are you talking about?!" She frowns too.

"You showed up, right when I was proving my perfection! You ruined everything again!" Mirii stomps the ground.

"That's not true at all, actually…"

Mirii quickly turns over Agent 2.

"WHAT?!"

"Their story gave an idea at Mr. Tarfo… do you remember seeing him, talking with Mr. ToothPale while walking away?"

Mirii nodded.

"He usually doesn't dare to propose any ideas to him… but when he does, that means it's certain he's going to get something!"

"Really…?" Mirii's mouth was left open.

"Yes. You should thank your friends, if now Mr. Tarfo is giving you another chance…"

"They… gave me another chance…?" She looks at Grina and Bars.

"Heh, who wouldn't guess that." Grina smiles. "We aren't as useless as you thought we were, huh?"

"… your _help_ looks more coincidental than intentional…"

"And so is Bars's mistake. Coincidental… not intentional!" She grins.

Mirii gasps loudly, expanding her eyes.

"Except this time, we are helping you out." Grina grins even more. "So, now you should give us many compliments for being this awesome!"

"Eh?! I will only give you my thanks! What's the point to overexaggerate this much?!" Mirii holds her fists, shaking them.

"Yeah, good question… what's the point to overexaggerate this much? Especially last time with Bars…?" She folds her arms too.

Mirii stop shaking her fists and gulping faintly.

"… he… he did something unforgivable…"

"And now he did something grateful! So… where are the congratulations again?"

"Bu-but you both understood my compliments!"

"And so Bars did understood his mistakes."

"Grrrr… w-would you stop flipping off my statements?!"

"I'm not flipping anything…" Grina shakes her head. "I'm simply applying your logic on this case…"

"My logic…?"

"Yes. Don't tell me you never thought about it…?"

Mirii's stood in silence for a moment.

"Or maybe there was something else that made you yell all those mistakes… right?"

Mirii keeps looking at Grina, with a sad face.

"If I had to guess… I'd say Hunry is the reason."

"Wh-what about him?!" Mirii shouts, while blushing and backing a bit away. "He didn't do anything wrong!"

"I'm not accusing him… actually… I should give him my apologizes for how bad I treated him…" Grina rubs her eye.

"… you… attacked him only to defend Bars…?"

Grina blushes a bit.

"Ye-yeah, that's the reason… I-I couldn't see where my attacks were going and"

"I understand, Grina… you were being affected by your logic…"

"In other words, you two did the same mistake!" Agent 1 steps between the two girls.

"Hey, you are right!" Grina gapes. "Our fight was almost a mirror!"

Agent 2 walks near Agent 1.

"At the end, you both had your valid reasons to stand up for your respective friend. However…" She shook her head. "You wanted to be more right than the other one, leading you to mindless exaggerations… this is how **wars** are created."

Mirii looks at Agent 2, trying to say something more than one time.

"Me and Agent 1 had a similar experience in the past… and we both used the same solution."

"Which is…?" Grina asked.

"Before you keep attacking your enemy… **try to stop and look around you**. If you see a wasteland instead of a grassland, that's your clue to stop fighting for a moment." She looks at Mirii. "And now… I want you to try our method."

"How?"

"Look at Bars… and remember what you did to him. Don't think about your reasons, yet…" She moves away from her view range.

The girl looks at Bars, for a while.

"Mirii… I'm still sorry for that event…" He scratches his head.

Mirii wasn't saying anything. After a moment of silence, Bars spoke again.

"I wish I could go back in time and stop myself from committing that error!"

"… you can't, Bars." She said.

"I know, I know…" He kicks the air.

"You look at the past just to learn from it. Like what I'm doing right now…"

Suddenly, Grina inhales silently.

"You… you are saying that…"

Mirii nods, with a smile.

"This means… WE ARE FRIENDS AGAIN!" Grina runs over Mirii, hugging her!

"Hey! Don't forget about me!" Bars walks near the girls, hugging them both.

"Eh eh… it's so cool to have friends…!" Grina moves away from the two young Inklings.

"I agree." Mirii keeps smiling. "I acted so imperfect, last time…"

"Hey, don't feel down! Even _perfection_ can do some minor mistakes!" Grina pats Mirii.

"Except big dudes like me… you know, we do BIG mistakes!"

The three laughed together.

"But they are capable to commit big corrections." Mirii adds.

"Yep! Don't forget that they can do big hugs too!" Grina winks at the boy.

He blushes a bit.

"Anyway…" Mirii speaks, making Grina and Bars turning over her. "There is one more thing left to do…"

"Huh? What is-OH! You are right!" Grina hits her own palm.

Grina and Mirii pronounced their personal Hun's surname at the same time.

"He's still inside the Headquarters, right?" Grina asked.

"Correct." Mirii nods. "Let's go back there and meet him."

"You can't."

The friends look around. Bars looks up.

"OVER THERE!" He points at the top of a brick wall, where the two agents were now standing.

"Yuuuuhuuuuu!" Agent 1 waves both her arms.

"Hey, what are you doing up there? Get back here!" Grina points at the ground.

"We are a bit busy… so we can't stay for the celebrations." Agent 2 explained. "However, that keycard can be used only once. There is no way to enter the Headquarters now…"

"No… NO, THERE MUST BE ONE!" Mirii shouted.

"Yeah, that's true! Why you exaggerated with your words?!" Agent 1 puffs her cheeks.

"D-darn! Don't make me look bad, Agent 1… not after that speech I made!" Agent 2 was sweating.

"Tsk… hypocrite." Agent 1 turns her back, folding her arms.

"Sigh… ok, ok…" She looks back at the three young Inklings. "The only way to enter is receiving a call from Mr. Tarfo… he's the only one who can let you inside."

"A call from him? Understood." Mirii took her smartphone.

"He has your phone number?" Grina looks the monitor.

"Yes, but I don't have his…" She looks at the battery indicator: it was half-full.

"Ah… heh, as long as he can contact you, all we have to do is to wait!" Grina looks up. "Thank you for the help, numbered friends!"

Grina, Bars and Mirii wave their hands at the two agents, which replied in the same way.


	16. World 3-2: Meeting at the treehouse

Inside a certain treehouse: Grina, Bars and Mirii were sitting on chairs around a table. On the table there were some snacks on a plastic plate. Crumbs were scattered near Mirii and Bars.

"So, this is what you did in the meantime..." Mirii said, taking another snack.

"Yep! Pretty crazy, isn't?!" Grina keeps rubbing her weapon with a cloth.

"Well… their way to live isn't something I'd classify _ordinary_." The girl took her smartphone, looking at the hour screen.

"Not even weird: just plain scary!" Bars took the whole plate.

"Your stomach is scary, Bars." Grina frowns at him.

Bars yelped, putting back the plate where it was before.

"In any case… if you both need my assistance, I also require to upgrade my weapon." Mirii stands up, as she looks at her Homing Splat Charger lied on a wall.

"Yeah, easy to say…" Grina pulls her pockets, showing nothing.

"It doesn't matter. I have the money to" Suddenly Mirii expanded her eyes.

"… ops?" Grina grins.

"Nnngghh… n-never mind…" She stomps the ground.

"Aw, girl… you shouldn't worry too much! Aside the fact that your Splat Charger is already upgraded, you are with us! Seriously, no tentacle dude will defeat a team of such magnitude!" Bars stretched his arm towards the snacks.

"Unless we are little, harmless Squids…" Grina slaps Bars's hand.

He returns his hand, shaking it.

"Shucks, you are right…! That stupid music is making us useless!" The boy looks at Mirii walking near her weapon.

"This may be true…" Mirii took and look around it. "But I'll not let any melody get in our way of victory."

"Well said, Mirii!" Grina pours her cloth in front of the girl.

Mirii moves her forefinger left and right.

"However, I don't have any gadget which could help our case…" The short girl looks through the scope, aiming the weapon on a fly resting near the crumbs.

"That sucks!" Bars stands up, diving on the sofa. "We can't go on with luck alone! Those tentacles are weird, but not idiots!"

Grina observes Mirii following the fly, through her scope… then, she stands up with a large smile.

"I got an idea! A very cool one too!" The girl lies her weapon on the table, then she walks towards a closet.

Bars follows Grina's movements, as she opens the closet and picks up a poster rolled up. She let the paper unroll itself, revealing the image of a large Squid: Inkling uppercase words were written on the top.

"Ta-dah!" The girl shows the poster to her friends.

"As Squids we are pushover… but as **Krakens** we are unbeatable!" She lies it on the table, while pushing her weapon aside.

The poster up and down sides rolled slightly on their own.

"Whoa, that's like genius!" Bars jumps out of the sofa, walking near Grina.

"Krakens, huh…" Mirii was now aiming at a small spider. "It's a very good counterattack… but you also need to explain, how we are going to get its power."

"Eh eh eh…" Grina took a snack, munching it. "I'd lend the honor to the Inkopolis Security Team."

Mirii puts her weapon back in its place.

"Interesting solution… I'm sure they will have something useful." The short lady goes near the table, looking at the poster.

"You bet!" She grins, staring at the Kraken. "They will think twice, once they meet grown-up Squids!"

"Yeah, girl! I can almost imagine their faces!" He looks up, at a little hole formed on the ceiling.

"I can imagine their tears!" Grina rolls the poster, holding it. "But for now, we must rest a little… I think we already did enough craziness for today."

"Good, because there is another question I had in mind…" Mirii walks over the window, watching outside.

"Heh, good think we have our strategist back in business!" Grina shrugs. "What's the question, Miss Perfection?"

"A very easy one… how are we suppose to sneak inside their city?"

"… ah…" Grina walks back near the closet, opening it again.

"No clue, as I suspected…" Mirii looks at Grina taking a rubber band.

The girl wraps the poster with the rubber band.

"Actually I do have one… but it's too crazy to get it work." She throws the poster over the table, missing it: she does a disappointed expression.

"Uhm…" Mirii picks up the fallen poster, lying it on the table. "When you talk like that, it's better to not hear it… but I suppose we don't have much alternatives to utilize."

A music sound played for a short time.

"Hey, don't we have a kettle ready to use?" Bars was pressing buttons, as he looks the screen of his Splatendo 3DS.

"You forgot how that was supposed to be a secret…" Grina moves near the TV, pushing a red button on it, then sitting on the sofa. "You can bet your videogame, that security is extra tight around it!"

"Right, Grina… right." Bars keeps looking at his Splatendo 3DS, pressing buttons frenetically.

"Then, please explain your plans…" Mirii puts the crumbs on her hands.

"Ok. We take parachutes and then land safely inside their city." Grina watches the TV, sinking more on the sofa.

"I'll not let you use that girl." Bars closes the Splatendo 3DS, looking at her. "We can't even see where the funk we are going to land!"

"Do you have a better idea then?" Grina looks at him, folding her arms.

"Ehm… I'll tell one tomorrow!" He laughs faintly, opening his Splatendo 3DS again.

Grina sighs loudly.

"What do you think, Mirii?" The girl looks at her, throwing the crumbs in a trash bag.

"I think we should ask to the experts from the IST." She was dusting off her hands.

"IST? … aaaah, the Inkopolis Security… yeah yeah!" Grina nods, returning to stare at the TV.

Mirii took her smartphone, looking at the hour screen again.

"He isn't calling…" She mumbles at herself.

"Hey, sit down with us!" Grina jumps to her left, leaving an open spot.

Mirii reaches her friends, sitting on the sofa. The lady was seeing a female Inkling running away from a dragon, inside the corridors of a castle. The program was broadcasting in black and white colors. The girl snorted, looking away.

"You two mentioned earlier something about **Octoling** … am I correct?"

"Uh-huh." Grina's eyes were focusing on the TV. "I fought one of them: a girl which is kind of a loser, actually. They appears to have our same skills, though… except they become a different kind of Squid. Maybe an Octo-monster…?"

"Can she crawl inside her own ink?" Mirii looks at Grina.

"Yep! Like I said, pretty much like us!" She leans closer to the TV.

Mirii keeps looking at her… but all the sudden, her eyes expanded.

"TH-THEY HAVE OUR SAME ABILITIES?!" Mirii stands up quickly.

Grina and Bars jumped.

"Whoa whoa! What's the matter?! You don't like creatures copying us Inklings?!" The girl was breathing rapidly.

"Not that reason! You… you mentioned that kettle before…" Mirii said.

"Yeah! But what an Octoling has to do with that kettle? … wait…"

Grina gasps, getting up as well.

"OH NO! HOW COULD WE FORGET SOMETHING LIKE THAT?!" She shouted, pushing the red button on the TV, shutting it off.

"What did we forget?!" Bars shuts off his game, storing it in his pocket, getting up.

"The Octolings, Bars! They can get inside their own ink, like us do!" Grina glances at Mirii picking up her weapon and Ink Tank.

"So?! Can they also pass through grates too?" Bars rubs his chin, looking at Grina taking her Splattershot and Ink Tank.

"And guess what kind of grate they could pass into…" She frowns at him.

"Uuuuh… the manhole? That kettle? … OH FUNK!" He slaps his own forehead.

"They have a reliable way to get here now! We must destroy that method of transportation, before the Octolings will use it to sneak inside the city!" Grina runs away from the treehouse.

Bars lifts up his weapon and ink tank, chasing after the girls which they are already near the Super Jump Panel.

"Hold on!" Mirii stands on the panel first. "Let me first check the landing area."

Grina lifts her thumb up. Mirii uses her scope attached on her weapon to look around. She located two trash cans, Annie walking with a bag on her hand and Moe inside her hair, a female Inkling talking through her phone and an Octoling passing her at great speed.

"As I suspected." Mirii lowers her weapon. "One arrived."

"DARN IT!" Grina slaps her own leg. "And now, how can we find that Octoling?! Inkopolis is huge!"

"True…" Mirii took an Inkmagenta gum from her pockets. "But I have the feeling, that the enemy is not alone…"

The girl chews the gum, changing her ink color into magenta.

"We aren't either! I'm gonna make them eat their own tentacles, if they dare to destroy the city!" Bars swings his weapon.

Ink came out from it, covering the two girls almost completely.

"BARS!" Grina cleans her face.

"Oh… s-sorry!" He tries to hold his laughter.

"… hmpf." Mirii cleans her face too. "We are going to hide near this manhole and follow the unaware Octoling. Once we reached their made-up base, we will strike. Any questions?"

Grina and Bars shook their heads.

"Good. Let's move now."


	17. World 3-3: Octolings visiting the mall!

The three Inklings were behind a small wall, watching over the manhole connected to the Octo Valley.

"Darn, those Octolings… why they are taking so long to come out?!" Bars snorted.

"Shhhh!" Mirii shushes while frowning at the boy.

He groaned looking at Grina: she shrugged, then returns to look over the manhole.

"They sure take their time…" She rests her head on her arms.

"Be patient, Grina." Mirii briefly looks at her smartphone. "It's only a matter of time…"

Suddenly, weird noises were heard. They are coming from the manhole. The trio lowers under the wall, grasping their weapons. From the grate, a female Octoling jumps out of it. She glances quickly around, then she runs in a direction.

"After the Octoling!" Grina said in a low voice.

The friends begin to chase her from a certain distance. The Octoling slips in numerous alleys and sidewalks, each time no one else was in her path. Sometimes she stops suddenly, then she proceeds in her sprints.

"What's up with this alien?" Bars said in a low voice. "Why all those funky halts?"

"Beats me. They are just weird, Bars." Grina responded lowly, tracking the running Octarian.

"We are getting near Arowana Mall." Mirii explained in a whisper.

"Oh really?! Then, I finally understand why all this sneaking… those girl Octolings wanted to rob the clothes shops!" Grina giggles.

"And the boys would steal all the videogames!" Bars shakes his head. "That'd suck, since I have many games to buy!"

"Or they are simply going to sabotage the entire area." Mirii glances both her friends.

"What?!" Both Grina and Bars exclaimed.

Mirii sighs.

"I didn't want to scare you two… but now, let's concentrate since we are about to approach the mall."

The female Octoling goes near a gate and climbs it at great speed.

"Oh ship!" Bars looks at the girl. "I'll never pass that gate!"

"We will not climb it, Bars…" Mirii puts her hand on her pocket. "We'll use perfection for that."

"Oh ooooh…" Grina smiles. "Another one of your nifty gadgets, eh?"

"It's not really a gadget…" She picks up a key, which she shows to Grina. "Being perfect doesn't mean to carry around complicated tools."

Grina nods, grinning.

"Ehm… isn't this illegal, Mirii?" Bars keeps looking at the key.

"I find more illegal climbing the gate, instead of simply opening it." Mirii stops near a wall.

The other two Inklings did the same.

"So… any losers from behind that wall?" Grina cocks her weapon.

"No… we can proceed."

Mirii walks near a padlock and inserts the key. She turns it, unlocking the padlock.

"From now on, let's communicate about our strategies." The girl pushes the gate.

"Ok!" Both Grina and Bars whispered.

The trio walks around, looking in every direction: all the shops were closed with a shutter and nobody was around them.

"They deactivated the alarm." Mirii points toward an open area. "Let's go outside."

The trio walked softly, getting near the destination. Peeked through another wall, they saw a large corridor with some occasional but large slopes. At their left, they could see a deactivated Start Point and a group of Octoling talking between each other.

"Hey, while we wait for the preparations, why don't we break inside one of their shops and steal some clothes? I saw a very cute one!" A female tall Octoling was looking through a weird machine, similar to a camera, pointing at a shop window.

"Forget it! We don't have any time to spare here!" A male Octoling was picking chips from a plastic bag.

"But they are taking forever for that Octo Bomb…" The same girl sighed, wearing the camera around her neck.

"It's quite complicated, you know…" A male Octoling adjusted his glasses. "You can't just plant it on the ground, but you have to hatch it too!"

The Inkling trio look at each other, doing the same puzzled expression.

"And how they do that…?" Another female Octoling spoke: she has an Octopus tattoo on her stomach.

"It needs a lot of fire to grow and then it hatches in an explosion! Right now, some of us is jumping up and down on portable bellows to make the fire larger, thus preparing the bomb in record time!" He smiles, looking in the direction where the trio was peeking.

They retreat inside. The boy returns to look at the other Octolings.

"… th-they are cooking a giant egg or a giant bomb?" Bars scratches his head.

"Maybe both!" Grina giggles.

"This is not funny, Grina!" Mirii lifts her weapon. "It may look ridiculous, but we are still dealing with a dangerous explosive."

"You know… is it even an explosive? That bomb could be just filled with yummy ketchup! And besides..." Grina moves quickly her hand towards a dragonfly, which was flying near. "Those Octolings aren't looking really all that menacing… how about we talk to them first?"

"Are you crazy?! They will shoot you as soon as you appear on their sights!" Mirii frowns.

"Well… she's right, Grina…" Bars rubs his chin. "At least two of them were trying to splat our butts…"

"Yeah, that's true." She catches out her tongue. "I tried to get that Stingray as a friend and he betrayed us like nothing! After all, that same situation could happen here too."

"Good observation." Mirii smiles, then she returns to peek. "Now, we must remain concentrated if we want to foil their plans. Get your weapons ready..."

"Kelp yeah!" Bars looks at his weapon. "I'm ready for some darn fun!"

Grina looks around her weapon, releasing a grin. Mirii holds the trigger, then walks outside aiming at the boy Octoling eating chips, through the scope.

 _BLAM!_

The target exploded in magenta ink, hitting the others in the blast: he flies away in a small Octopus form.

"THEY SPLATTED COR!" The tall female Octoling screamed, while hiding behind a wall.

"WE ARE GOING TO FIGHT BACK!" A male voice said, coming from the wall.

Grina lays her hand on Mirii's shoulder.

"Let me handle this." She whispered.

"A-alone?!" Mirii looks at her.

Grina nods, then after a quick pat on Mirii's back, she runs outside. Her friend quickly follows Grina by looking inside the scope. The girl hides behind the other side of the wall.

"You better give up your ink, tentacles!" Grina shouts. "The area is already secured! Come out with your hands up!"

"NEVER!" The male Octoling with glasses comes out, cocking his Octoshot weapon.

 _BLAM!_

Mirii hit it, as soon as he was about to find Grina: he flies away as a small Octopus. Grina clenches her fist, with a smile. Bars walks lightly, going near Grina.

"D-did you see where they shoot?!" A female voice said, between fast breathes.

"D-don't panic, ok?! I'm thinking about a strategy…" Another female voice said.

Bars climbs the wall and then he jumps in the air: the Octoling girls quickly glance at him, only to get splatted by the swing of his weapon.

"All right!" He grins as he watches the two small Octopuses flying away.

"Yay! Bravo Barsy!" Grina hugs him from behind.

The boy blushes a bit.

"Ah ah! It was nothing!" He looks at Mirii, which was running in their direction.

"You two are crazy…!" Mirii frowns at them.

"But this is how I roll!" He stomps the ground with the stick of his weapon.

"And I rock with my socks!" She plays the guitar with her weapon.

Mirii rolls her eyes.

"Anyway, before we proceed…" The short girl looks at the Start Point. "We have to shoot that, so we can create our own checkpoint."

"Aw, really? Then I can't say how much toastin' I did!" Bars looks behind, through the horizon of the open hallway. "Beating the level with only one life is much more hardcore!"

"THIS IS NOT A VIDEOGAME, BARS!" Mirii shouted, looking at him in his eyes.

"Urgh… how can you be so serious all the time, girl…?" He shrugs. "Joking can decrease the stress."

"I don't need any of that: I have the perfect nerves." The short girl takes a Splat Bomb.

Grina holds her laughter, hitting Bars with her elbow. Mirii throws the bomb on the deactivated Start Point, blowing on the top of it. Now the point was glowing, full of fresh magenta ink.

"Ok." Mirii turns her back. "Now, can we talk about the strategy instead of improvising?"

"Craziness can't be predicted, Mirii…" Grina shoots on the ground, covering it with ink. "It happens at the last second."

"It doesn't mean we should trust every single idea, you can muster in the moment." Mirii lifts her feet to let Grina shoot ink under them.

"Well… then, let's hear your plan." Grina dives inside her ink, as a Squid.

"My plan…? I... … let's first check the area ahead of us." Mirii passes the wall, looking ahead.

"Oh, great plan! I love watching things!" Grina comes out, reaching her friend.

"Nngghh…! Grina, please…! You can't always trust your luck in everything you do…!" Mirii looks through her scope.

"Who said I trusted in luck? The only thing I truly follow are my friends…!" She smiles, sitting on the edge of a giant ramp.

Mirii keeps looking through the scope, until she stops her sight on a specific point.

"So… did you find anything?" Grina watches the same point where her friend is watching.

 _HELP! GIRLS!_

Bars shouted, before he got splatted by a female Octoling. Other 2 Octolings were with her. Grina and Mirii quickly cocked their weapons, shooting at the opposing group. The female Octoling rolled to her right, while Mirii's shot slightly missed her.

"Mirii! Keep shooting at that Octoling!" Grina walks, throwing a Burst Bomb at the other two.

Mirii nods followed by a snort. The girl shot again and the female Octarian rolled away. Grina shoots at her, while she was getting up, successfully splatting the foe. The remaining Octolings marched, while shooting at Grina. She throws another Burst Bomb and escapes near Mirii.

Mirii shot down a male Octoling: alone, the other boy ran away sliding behind the wall.

 _SPLAT!_

He exploded in magenta ink, flying away as a small Squid. Bars comes out of the wall, scratching his nose.

"Heh, talk about great comeback!" He reaches the two girls.

"I see that you used the Start Point…" She folds her arms, tapping the ground.

"Ehm… th-that doesn't count…" He lowers his head.

"Aaawww, Barsy…" Grina hugs him again. "We don't need a hardcore friend on our side, you know…"

He smiled.

"Thanks, Grina… but next time, no one will get cheap splats from me!" He winks at her.

She returned the wink.

"Ahem…"

The two friends twisted their heads towards Mirii.

"We have to be quick. Not just because other Octolings are coming from behind…" Mirii turns, looking at the same point she was staring before.

"And what's the other reason?" Grina leaves Bars, walking near Mirii.

"Before, I found **other Inklings** …" She watches through her scope again.

"What?! Are you sure?!" Grina looks around rapidly.

"Yes. They weren't tied though… and now, I can't find them again." Mirii lowers her weapon.

"Those weirdos are kidnapping Inklings too?! Now that goes too far!" He slams his weapon on the ground, inking the two girls.

"BARSY!" Grina groans, as she cleans up her face. "Would you stop doing that?!"

"Sorry!" He holds his laughter. "I forgot about it again…"

"You better remember it good…" Mirii cleans her face, then looking at Bars in his eyes. "Because there will not be a next time, after the third strike."

The boy gulped.

"C'mon… you wouldn't do that to a friend, right?!"

Mirii looks behind and says "I'll call you Barsy… if you ink us again."

Bars gasped, dropping his weapon.

"NOT YOU TOO!"

"Then behave good, Barsy!" She winks at him, with a smile.

"Argh…!" He grits his teeth, while picking up his Splat Roller.

"Let's go, now. We must find those Inklings, before the Octolings could do any harms at them."

Grina and Bars nodded and followed Mirii: they all slid down the giant ramp.


	18. World 3-4: Unexpected enemies

"Wooo! What a ride!" Grina stands up, at the end of the ramp.

"It didn't last too long…" Bars does the same.

"It shouldn't." Mirii was already on her feet. "We are not here to have fun."

"Aaaww, how could you not like some thrills?! They give you such energy!" Grina walks ahead, looking around the upcoming area.

"I don't need thrills to feel alive… perfection provides that." Mirii took her smartphone and looks briefly at it.

"Still no call, eh?" Grina covers the near floor with ink.

Mirii sighs, putting away the smartphone.

"Don't worry about it: Mr. Shark will call you! Trust me!" The girl looks at Bars, pointing the field.

Bars nods and starts inking the ground.

"I didn't worry, at all. I never worried in my whole life." Mirii folds her arms.

"Not even for Hunry?" Grina giggles.

Mirii blushes a bit.

"Why you keep referencing about him?! What he has to do with everything?!" Mirii looks at Grina, with a frown.

"Then, why all the fuzz about becoming an agent?" She grins at her.

"Because! … ehm… because… I… I always dreamed to be one!" Mirii starts sweating.

"Really? I thought you wanted to be a company leader!" Grina dives inside the magenta ink.

"I remember that too! That girl was all like _Yo! Mah future is to run the economy and get all the money_ "

"STUFF. IT. BARSY." Mirii was breathing loudly, throwing lightning bolts with her eyes at Bars.

"Whaaa?! What I did wrong?!" He raises his hands.

"Who said you did wrong?" Grina catches her tongue, while winking at Bars.

Mirii turns over, abruptly. Puffs of smoke were coming from her head.

"There are enemies ahead. You better prepare yourself, because they will not have mercy on us."

"Ooook, general!" The girl does a salute at Mirii.

Grina and Bars chuckled together, as they follow their friend: their Ink Tanks was bleeping silently. Mirii looks through her scope, seeing the shop windows and the tall hill in front of them.

"Grina, you hide behind that plant on your left. Bars, you go to the right one." Mirii spoke still looking the scope.

The two friends nods, then they walk near their assigned small walls.

"Next?" Grina whispers at Mirii, while bending down.

"Wait. I'll shoot a line soon, if no one shows up." Mirii holds the trigger of her Splat Charger.

From the top of the hill, someone appears. Mirii aims at the target, but she didn't shoot: her eyes expanded and slowly she lowers her weapon, as the girl releases the trigger causing a great amount of ink to come out in a blast.

"Hey Mirii, what gives?!" Grina asked, assuming a slight frown.

"… Inklings are coming in our way." She becomes paler.

"Really?! Slick!" Bars gets up, with a smile.

"Bars! Don't go near them!" Mirii sprints near him.

"Why?" He asked, moving away from the wall.

The boy drops his weapon, jumping a bit. Grina comes out of the wall, reacting with a small squeal. The trio were looking at three Inklings sliding down the hill: their clothes were the same as those wore by the Octolings. They were wielding Octoshot weapons and their ink color is the same as those used by the Octarians.

"What the SQUID?!" Bars yelled, picking his weapon up.

"Hi there, comrades." A male Inkling said with a small grin.

"You… wait, yo-you are Inklings right?!" Grina asked.

"Yes, we are." A female Inkling stroke her left tentacle.

"Why that scared face? You never saw another Inkling or what?" Another male Inkling chuckled.

"We do… but never with those clothes." Mirii looks at their armor.

"Oh, this?" The girl Inkling spins around. "They are so sweet! You should wear one too."

"And why we should? They are so out of this world!" Grina frowns.

"Better their world than ours…" The taller male Inkling lifts up his goggles.

"What are you saying, dude?!" Bars clenches her fists. "They have the weirdest ship I ever saw!"

"I have seen worst, fatty!" The shorter male looks at him. "Like, how **they still keep shut the Turf War Station**."

Bars snorted, walking towards the other boy while lifting his weapon. Mirii holds him by the shoulder.

"And you care so much about a stupid building, short stuff?!" Grina shouted: she's taller than the boy.

"Huh?! You don't like Turf Wars?!" The taller boy almost drops his weapon.

"We don't hate Turf Wars… but they aren't a necessity." Mirii shakes her head.

Her friends nodded together.

"Talk about utterly shocked! We are dealing with freaks!" The female Inkling backs away.

"Well, we are not letting anyone interfere with the Octarians' plan!" The shorter boy Inkling cocks his weapon.

"No way, dude! You don't mean…" Bars walks a bit backwards.

"If you haven't figured it out yet, we are **Octarian allies**!" The taller Inkling boy cocks his weapon too.

"We wanted to ask you to join our army… too bad, you are Turf War haters." The female Inkling took a Splat Bomb.

"What do you think you'll achieve with this?! Octarians wanted to kill us earlier!" Grina was growling.

"They let us play Turf War matches in peace, the other day! If we help them in their deeds, we can keep playing in their city, as long as we want to!" The shorter guy shouted.

"You three are nuts…" Mirii said.

"YOU ARE NUTS!" The taller boy shoots against the trio.

Mirii does a quick backflip, avoiding the purple ink projectiles. The female opponent throws a Splat Bomb against Bars, which he hits with his weapon in a fast swing: the bomb flies near Grina, exploding nearby.

"IT'S A FOUL, BARS!" The girl runs backwards, a bit dirty with purple ink, while shooting back at her rivals.

"Darn! I'm sorry, Grina!" Bars throws a Suction Bomb on the opposing Inklings.

They dived away from the blast, hiding behind a small wall.

"I'm gonna use the Killer Wail!" He takes his special weapon, placing it on the ground.

After aiming towards the enemy's hiding spot, the giant speaker released huge waves of sound: it broke several shop windows! Grina and Mirii screamed, as they block their ears, dropping their weapons.

"Whoa… that sure was Blast Sounding!" He walks near a small wall, laughing.

He sees the ground behind the wall: it was covered in dust.

"Huh?! Wh-where did they go?" Bars looks around quickly.

 _SPLAT!_

The boy exploded by the attacks of the shorter male Inkling's Octoshot: he flies away as a small Squid. A Splat Bomb flies near the girls, as they had closed eyes and blocked ears. It exploded, hitting both at the same time: the girls fly away in their small Squid form.

The defeated girls arrived on the Start Point, where their bodies is regenerated. Bars emerged from the magenta ink, resting his eyes on the ladies.

"You got splatted too?!" He swims back, near them.

Grina and Mirii look at their hands, then all around them.

"Not just that: we lost our weapons too!" Grina clenches her fists.

"Curses!" Mirii stomps the panel, then she looks at Bars. "Why did you decided to ruin our eardrums with that infernal weapon?!"

"I-I didn't knew it was THAT strong!" Bars looks back for a moment.

"Yeah… actually…" Grina pulls the top of her shirt, speaking lowly.

"… so, it was YOU!" Mirii points at her friend.

Grina sit down on the ground and shrank a bit.

"I'm sorry, Mirii… I wanted to"

"That isn't the problem! You know it very well, where the mistake lies!" Mirii shouts.

Grina shrank even more.

"I forgot to mention that detail, last time…"

Mirii looks at Grina, frowning.

"… get up from there." Her expression didn't change.

Grina returns instantly back at her normal size.

"Huh? You aren't mad at me…?" Grina gets up, pointing at herself.

"What would be the point? You didn't purposely sealed that information away from Bars…" She looks at him.

"I agree!" He raises his thumb. "We all do mistakes, Grina!"

"Except me." Mirii said.

Grina and Bars both look at her.

"… w-what now?!" Mirii backs away a little.

"Do you want to be reminded about that **earlier** mistake?" Grina smiles.

"WHAT MISTAKE?! I NEVER DID ANY MISTAK"

 _*music starts playing*_

Mirii stops immediately: she took her smartphone and looks on the screen.

" **Private**!" She touches the screen and lays the phone near her ear. "Mr. Tarfo?!"

Grina and Bars look at each other. Mirii stops breathing, while hearing what Mr. Tarfo says.

"… we… WE PASSED?! YAHOOOOO!" Mirii jumps very high, smiling widely.

Grina and Bars do a highfive and look at their friend landing on the panel.

"WE BECOME **RANGERS**! WE CAN NOW… …" The girl stands rigid. "… Mr. Tarfo… w-we didn't become agents?"

Mirii listens to Mr. Tarfo's voice.

"… ah… Ranger is an under rank, before Agent… … you want us to **save Captain Cuttlefish** , in order to reach the desired status? … … uh-huh… … no, we can't come into the Headquarters yet. We are dealing with an Octarian attack at the moment."

From the phone, it was possible to hear Mr. Tarfo shouting.

"They are deploying a bomb inside Arowana Mall. Also, a group of purple Inklings attacked us, claiming to be allies with the Octolings. … uh-huh… … ok, thank you Mr. Tarfo. We are going to deal with them, right in this instant. … goodbye, Mr. Tarfo." Mirii pushes the red button on her phone.

"So?!" Grina asked, gulping.

"… no more joking around." Mirii assumes a serious face. "We must stop the Octolings, before the other agents reach this area."

The girl jumps out of panel, diving inside the ink as a Squid.

"Wait a sandwich, girl!" Bars shouts. "You two don't have a main weapon!"

"We have our sub and special weapons, Barsy!" Grina dives into the ink in Squid form. "Luckily, I didn't lose Shooty again…"

"You used another Splattershot as an illegal weapon?!" Bars dives back in the ink.

"Yep! It has to stay in its original shape!" She swims faster, following Mirii.

"Stop talking, you two! I can hear shooting sounds…" The girl emerges as a Squid.

"Can't we wait for help?" Bars emerges too, near Mirii.

"No. I can't explain the reason now, so please concentrate." Mirii looks at Grina emerging up. "I have a strategy in mind… and you two must listen very carefully."


	19. World 3-5: Serious business at the mall

The three purple Inklings were inking the magenta ground with their color. The shorter boy was near a wall, covering a small part of the field.

 _SPLAT!_

From above, Bars jumps down and swings his weapon on him making the enemy explode and turn into a small flying Squid. The other two purple Inklings quickly turn around, shooting at the boy which was bended down.

Alarming noises made the opposing Squids twist their heads above: Grina was throwing several Burst Bombs at high speed towards the opponents. The two rolled away from the bombs, each going in a different direction. While the girl was getting up, she saw a magenta Splat Bomb under her nose.

 _BOOM!_

She exploded and turned into a flying small Squid. Sweat was falling from the taller boy's forehead. His armor was slightly covered in magenta ink. He walks behind, aiming his weapon at Bars. Someone taps his shoulder: he quickly turns to see Grina with a Burst Bomb on her hand. She was grinning.

 _SPLAT!_

The enemy, now as a small Squid, flies away yelping in the air.

"Who needs any stinkin' mains?" Grina throws her Burst Bomb multiple times.

"That was slick, Grina!" Bars walks near the girl, limping.

"Thanks Barsy…" She looks his raised leg, doing a slight distorted mouth. "Can you even walk?"

"A bit…" He yelped lowly once his lifted foot touches the ground.

"I'm sorry, Bars." Mirii walks near her friends. "I couldn't expect this…"

"That's ok!" He raises his posture. "I can handle a little injure!"

Grina keeps looking at the wounded foot.

"I don't know…" She turns around, whispering something.

"I'm going ahead." Mirii sprints forward.

She looks to her left, tracking down the two weapons colored in purple ink. The girl throws a Splat Bomb near them: its explosion created a full magenta circle. Mirii bends her knees.

"Wait!" Grina throws a Burst Bomb in front of the girl. "Let me clear the path!"

Mirii nods at her, smiling. After throwing 2 more bombs, Grina and her friend walk on the magenta path and reached their weapons. Mirii picks up her Charger, looking around it.

"No damage." She becomes a Squid and dives inside the ink.

"Same here!" Grina copies Mirii.

Bars rolls the weapon on the ground, still limping. He stares at the big magenta colored circle.

"Girls?!" He shouted.

"Yes?" Grina emerged, holding her weapon.

The boy sighs loudly.

"You were just under that ink!" His stomach grumbled.

Grina giggles, while Bars blushes a bit.

"We have more work to do." Mirii emerges too. "Please, grit your teeth Bars. I don't have anything that could assist you."

Bars lowers his head, nodding.

"Good." Mirii walks ahead.

A weird sound made the boy raise his head: he watches Grina pointing at her hand with her eyes. She was pulling another product of chocolate sticks from her pocket. Bars opens his mouth, smiling. The girl walks near him, taking off the whole package and opening it.

He takes a chocolate stick and eats it. The girl was pouring the rest of them in front of him. The boy pushes her hand away, gently. Grina squealed a bit. Bars winked, caressing her cheek. Her face was almost red, her heart was beating faster. Mirii was watching the whole scene, immobile like a statue. Her weapon was slowly falling off her hands.

 _BOOM!_

Mirii instantly turns around and shoots ahead. The chocolate sticks fall down from Grina's hand. Bars frowns, slamming his weapon on the ground. The girl grasps her Splattershot, cocking it. Mirii backs away, holding the Charger's trigger. Her eyes were pointed at her friends, her head tilts ahead multiple times.

From the top of the hill, a male Octoling was walking with his knees bended down, holding a Splat Bomb on his right hand and his Octoshot on his left one. He stares at the two Inklings getting near Mirii: Grina was aiming at him, walking at the same speed as her limping boy friend.

He throws the bomb towards the Charger lady and quickly retreats backwards. Mirii performs a back flip, going away from the explosive, which boomed in a matter of a seconds. The girl left the trigger, shooting a long magenta path that touches the top. Grina holds Bars with her hand.

"Girl, let me pass." He whispered.

Grina shook her head, looking at him in the eyes.

"Stay here." Her eyes were slightly watery.

The boy holds his breath for a moment, then he sighs. The girl smiled, turning around rapidly. She runs and dives inside the ink, reaching the end of the path. Mirii looks around, resting her eyes on a small square platform connected with a grate.

The girl slightly emerges, slowly moving backwards. She swims faster, jumping out of the ink. She shoots towards the male Octoling, which was bended down behind a small wall: he exploded in a loud yell. Purple ink was hitting Grina on her face: from behind a small billboard, a female Octoling was shooting at the Inkling.

 _BLAM!_

The opposing girl abandons the area, as a small Squid, leaving behind a large stain of magenta ink. Grina shoots at her hands and washes her face with her own ink.

 _Grina! There are other Octolings in the next area!_

Opening her eyes, Grina saw Mirii talking from a small platform.

"Ok!" The girl covers behind the small billboard.

Looking back for a moment, Grina sees Bars emerging near her feet. She groaned with a frown.

"There are other Octolings behind us!" He takes a Suction Bomb.

The boy throws it far, landing somewhere in the plaza. Mirii keeps shooting in the same area, towards upcoming Octolings. Bars peeks to his left.

"FUNK!" He stands up and swings his weapon against a group of Octolings coming from the top of a wall.

Grina was sitting on the ground, looking at Bars swinging huge piles of ink at the enemies. He was gritting his teeth, closing his eyes from purple ink descending from his forehead. A quick glimpse to the left, Grina could see the upcoming area populated by a few Octolings marching towards the hill. Even farther, there was a giant circular white item with fire under it.

She stands up, cocking her weapon and dashing forward. The opponents near the wall shoot at her. She slides down their projectiles and jumps down the hill. The marching enemies look up, stopping on their tracks. Grina landed with a roll and ran ahead. Behind her, there were 5 Octolings shooting purple ink and throwing Splat Bombs. None of them reached the girl.

The female Inkling was panting in her run, approaching the great ramp and hearing yells and shouts from her back. She shoots the ramp, creating a small magenta path and crawling inside it. Jumping out, Grina lands in front of that large unknown object: it was sustained by 4 branches. Octolings were each bouncing on a big bellow, with nothing in their hands.

They raised their hands, trembling at the sight of the young girl. She closes her eye and shoots on their feet: the enemy ran away from it, screaming. With a quick twist, Grina shoots at the fire, shutting it off. Behind her, one female Octoling climbed the ramp.

"WE GOT YOU NOW, SCUM!" She shouted, taking a step forward.

The girl jumps back, aiming with her

 _BONK!_

Grina's head hit the object. A loud bang was heard, as the branches snapped and the item was launched forward. On impact, it starts rolling directing over the giant ramp. The female Octoling dived away, squealing aloud.

"THE BOMB IS COMING DOWN!" She shouted facing downstairs.

The bomb descends the ramp, bowling through Octolings in their attempt to move away from the ramp. Grina holds her head, the eyes were almost popping out: the bomb was going so fast, that stopping was becoming more an imaginative desire of the mind!

However, it slows down on its own, standing perfectly still on the field. Grina and the female Octoling approached the bomb: the opposing girl in particular was trembling.

"Th-that thing is going to explode prematurely, if it gets another slam like that!" She aims her weapon down.

"Ehm... let's fight another time, ok?" Grina pats her shoulder.

"Ok! I'm sorry for calling you a scum…" She puts away her goggles.

"Nah, I've been called worse"

"I'M GOING TO SAVE YOU, GRINA!"

Bars shouted in his run: he had his Suction Bomb well lifted in the air. Behind him, Mirii shows up from the top of the hill: looking at the boy, the girl petrifies. A group of Octolings, with 2 purple Inklings, focused their attentions on the entire scene.

"BARS! STOP YOUR ACTS IMMEDIATELY!" Mirii shouted, sliding down the hill.

"BARSY, NOOOOOOO!" Grina's hand stretched as far as she could do.

The boy jumps and throws the bomb right on the side of the giant egg.

"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!" The female Octoling pulls her tentacles. "WE ARE ALL GOING TO BLOW UP!"

Bars lowers his ears, his iris shrunk down rapidly.

"… mommy."

 _Boooooooooooooooooommm!_

From a distance, a titanic mushroom-shaped magenta explosion invades the whole mall area. Bars was laying down, with his eyes closed and magenta ink was present all over him . He opens them slowly, groaning faintly. He massages his forehead, while getting up.

The boy's view focused on a chair colored in magenta, with two missing legs. Looking better, the whole place was covered in magenta ink! Skateboards, clothes and other products were scattered around the ground. Almost all the shop windows were broken, vases were flipped and thrown elsewhere. No Octoling was near the area.

"Grriiiiiiiinnaaaaaa!" He puts two hands each near a mouth's side.

Bars runs on different points of the field, looking down and around. He repeats the girl's name, each time with a slight volume increase.

 _Uuuuuuhhh…_

The boy turns towards the voice, tracking down the source: Grina was standing to the ground. She gets up, with all her trembling limbs.

"Grina!" Bars sprints, then stops sliding a bit. "Are you all right?!"

"… Bars… uff…" She stands a little curved. "I have some pain all over… but I'm fine…"

"Ship, that was too close!" Bars picks her up.

"Yeah… no more Octolings…?" She hugs his neck.

"No, they are gone." The boy looks around. "The mall on the other hand"

"Who cares about it…" She smiles. "There are more important things to think about… like…"

She looks away, blushing.

"Like… the health of my friend…"

Bars smiles, blushing in the same way: he takes away some magenta ink resting on Grina's face.

"Barsy… did you find Mirii too?"

"Not yet… I wonder where she is." He frowns.

"Don't worry… we'll find her all well." She leaves Bars' neck, jumping down.

"Can you really walk on your own?!" He holds her shoulder.

"Yes… I'm supercharged." She winks.

Bars raises his blocking hand and Grina moves forward. Both climbed the first hill and descended the second one, while still in their humanoid form. The next area was very similar to the previous one.

"Whoa, this place is all funked up."

 _Ahia!_

Quickly Bars raises his foot, looking down: Mirii was on the ground, completely covered in magenta ink.

"Gggrrrrrrrrrrrrr…" Slowly, she clenches her fists.

Grina hugs Bars from behind, staring at the short girl as she was getting up. Mirii's eyes were on fire, her teeth were gritted and multiple veins popped out on her forehead.

"Oh, ehm…" Bars starts sweating. "Hi, M-Mirii…! It's so cool to see you, alive and w-well…!"

"I… I HATE YOU!" She points right on his nose. "NOT ONLY YOU RUINED THIS MALL, BUT YOU ALSO STEPPED ON ME LIKE NOTHING!"

"M-Mirii, wait!" Bars walks back slowly, with Grina. "I-I didn't see you down there! You have the same color of"

"SHUT UP! I DON'T WANT TO HEAR YOUR EXCUSES!" Her steps were shaking the floor. "I WANT TO HEAR YOUR IMMEDIATE SOLUTION ABOUT THIS MESS! BECAUSE IF YOU DON'T PROVIDE ONE"

"Mirii, s-stop it! Bars couldn't do"

"DON'T YOU EVEN DARE TO DEFEND HIM AGAIN! HE'S NOT IMMUNE IN FRONT OF MISTAKES! HE DESERVES TO FACE THEM TOO!"

"Yes, he did a big mistake! Bu-but please, don't commit the same mistake you did some days ago!" Grina steps in front of Bars, frowning at Mirii.

"MISTAKES?! ME?! I'M PERFE"

 _What's going on here?!_

The trio turn to see three magenta Inklings walking in their direction. Their clothes were making them resemble **Firefly Squids**. Mirii looks around the ground, opening and closing her hands.

"Are you hurt, kids?!" A young woman Inkling was carrying a first-aid suit.

"No problemo, miss!" Bars hits his own chest. "We are still as good as new!"

"Really?" She sighs. "What a relief!"

"You can say that again!" The male adult Inkling found a Charger, which he picks up. "Who lost this weapon?"

"That would be me." Mirii steps closer to him.

"There you go." He handles the weapon to her. "So, you three must be the Rangers we were looking for."

"Right on the field of operations!" Grina raises her chest, grinning. "You are the agents coming in our assistance?"

"Yes, that would be us." He shows to her a plastic card, with a small photo of him on it.

"Whoa…" Another adult male Inkling looks around. "You sure did a disaster here."

"I can explain!" Mirii rushes in front of him. "The Octolings were jumping up and down on bellows to keep the fire alive and hatch the egg bomb, but we come right in their improvised base, splatted them quickly before they could have the chance to counter. Then we used the bellows to cool down the bomb, so it won't explode. We even used magenta ink on it! That's why the mall is now colored all around! If it wasn't for our perfect performance, the bomb would destroy the whole city and ufff… huufff… end of the story."

Mirii was taking several breathes.

"Uhm… well, it looks like you did your best…" The male Inklings rubs his chin many times.

"Of course we did! Isn't it right, friends?" Mirii looks at them.

"Yep! Like she said, we were perfect!" Grina raises her thumb.

Bars was holding his mouth. Tears were coming out of his eyes. Mirii snorted, while looking at him.

"Ehm… why so much care about that? You should be grateful to be all in one piece!" The Inkling woman looks at a wound on Mirii's right arm.

"We are Rangers that dream everyday to become professional Agents like you." Mirii grabs her hands from her back. "We are very honored with our jobs and we hope to be always able to protect our city from any danger, including Octarians."

"Eh eh, that's the spirit!" The Inkling man smiled, while taking a tablet. "I'll make sure you three will get a nice report."

"A report?" Grina looks at the man tapping on his tablet.

"Yes and it's very important for you." The woman gets closer to Mirii, while bringing medical tools.

"How so?" Bars asked.

"When you complete a mission, agents report your performance to the **Chief Agents**. If you did good, the chiefs will grant you points! If not, you'll lose them… and you don't want that to happen!" She whispers something to Mirii.

The girl shows her wounded arm.

"Because you'll be kicked out!" The Inkling man said, while looking at the colleague applying a medical disinfectant on Mirii's wound.

"But if you keep getting points, you'll be promoted and become real Agents!" She smiles, as she applies a bandage on the girl's arm. "Though, you can always return Rangers after losing enough points!"

"For now, focus on your Ranger jobs. Being an Agent is such hard work!" The Inkling man finishes tapping on his tablet.

"It's hard…?" Mirii looks at the man, while moving her cured arm.

"For you rookies, yes. We have to deal with dangerous stuff everyday!" He opens his arms.

"E-everyday?!" Her eyes expanded.

"Yeah, the world is not as nice as it appears…" The woman turns off her smile. "There is always trouble to solve before innocents get involved."

"Sounds serious…" Grina took a peek at Mirii.

The girl was still, staggering slowly.

"Bu-but I'm sure there are some great positives in being an Agent! Am I right?!" Grina chuckles a bit.

"Right on! Being an Agent gives you a lot of satisfactions! I wish I could let you see my awards collection, to give you an idea!" The man shows a gold shining medal. "I got this one 10 years ago! I take it with me, as a lucky charm."

"Also, since you are an Agent, being fit is required. That's why you have free access to medical and fitness care. Trust me, those are really something!" The woman smiles.

"Well… yeah, you do seem quite in shape for a 22 years old woman." Grina folds her arms with a grin.

"Actually I'm 37 years old…" Her smile grew.

"WHAT?!" The trio shouted together.

"No way!" Bars' jaw dropped.

"When I had that age, I was chubbier..." The woman twiddle her fingers.

"Yeah, the good old times!" The man pokes the woman. "We were almost done with our Ranger career, ready to become Agents!"

"I remember that moment… I was so nervous, that I couldn't stop biting my nails!" She grabs herself.

"In other words, being an Agent is a high risk, high reward job?" Mirii asked, holding her breath.

"Nah, not high risk… it depends from your future role, girl." The other male answered. "But why care about it? It'll take some years, before you'll reach that status."

"YEARS?!" Mirii shouted.

"Normally yes… well, if you happen to do something agent-related, your score will skyrocket to the higher ranks!"

Mirii gulped, with her eyes expanded.

"Now, it's better for you three to get some rest! We'll finish the job." The woman picks up her first-aid suit.

"We'll do it!" Mirii points at herself and her friends.

"This is an order." The man speaks. "Another thing to remember is that **any Agent is your superior**."

"Any Agent?" Grina asked.

"Yes. You must follow their orders without complains. At the same time, if something bad happens to you, Agents are going to pay first…" The man explains.

"Technically we should have been here long before… so, the mess is in our charge." The woman sighs.

"It's nothing too bad, right…?" Bars raises his eyebrows.

"I think we'll lose a rank…" The other man looks away.

The trio gasped.

"You don't deserve such punishment! We"

"That's fine, really." The woman looks at Mirii. "Being an Agent made me realize how our lives are important… you'll learn that lesson too."

Mirii tried to speak, but the woman tilts her forefinger left and right.

"Enough. Go home and rest, ok?" The woman walks away, followed by her colleagues. "Bye kids!"

The trio waves their hands at the three Agents, which become Squids and swim rapidly on the hills.


	20. World 3 Epilogue - Finally some rest!

Afternoon. The roads of Inkopolis were still deserted as seen in the morning. Grina and Bars' voices were the only sound echoing throughout the city. Together with Mirii, the trio walk down a sideway. Mirii in particular had her face pinned down, carefully moving around consumed gums on the ground or sea-dog excrements.

Grina glances her friend, holding herself with a smile.

"Mirii?" The girl steps away from a smaller feces.

The called lady stops still, turning around and facing the girl.

"Yes?" She looks on the ground with the corner of her eyes.

"You and Hunry sure have a lot in common." Grina raises her eyebrows multiple times.

Mirii blushes a bit.

"W-why that assumption…?" She no longer looks the sidewalk.

"Like him, you stay as silent as a ghost!" Grina opens her arms. "Don't you like interacting with your friends? We would appreciate talking with you too!"

"I didn't notice the need…" Mirii sighs. "You know me. I don't babble the first things my mind can think of."

"But girl, that looks like you kinda hate you…" He goes near the girl.

 _Splat._

"OH, YOU MORON!" Mirii screamed, watching her friend freeze in place. "YOU STEPPED ON A PIECE OF EXCREMENT!"

The boy raises his shoe, looking under it. Almost all of the material was attached on the bottom. A strong smell comes from it too.

"Ooooh, ship!" He slapped his forehead. "Funk! I have to change them and fast!"

"Easy there, big boy!" Grina pats his back. "This place is as lively as a library room! Who could see you in such embarrassing moment?"

"Us." Mirii folds her arms, tapping her foot and frowning.

"But we can close an eye on it, right?" Grina shrugs.

"The only thing I'll close is my nose." The girl closes her nose with her fingers.

"Sigh… you sure can be friendly, Ice Queen!" Grina rolls her eyes. "Anyway, turnabout!"

The trio turns their back and walk in that direction. Bars keeps walking with one of his feet touching only the heel. Grina giggled all the way, peeking constantly on his steps. Bars laughed too, whenever the girl did. Mirii shook her head, looking up and mumbling incomprehensive words.

They arrived at the apartments after some minutes. Grina and Mirii were outside, near a gate which was separating the girls from a small garden.

"Something to say, Mirii?" She leans on the gate.

"Yes. Let's get to the Headquarters by taking another road." Mirii was looking her smartphone, occasionally touching the screen.

"Aside from that." Grina's eyes rest on a closed bar shop. "I meant something new."

"You just can't stay in silence, can you?" Mirii puts her smartphone inside her pocket. "How can you manage to hear new information every time? Especially useful ones?"

Grina shakes her head, while sighing.

"You sure know how to be boring…" She sits on a small wall, laying her back on the gate.

Mirii looks at her friend, covering her face with both her hands. She bites a lips and starts caressing her right tentacle.

"Actually, I have something useful to say." She says in a low voice.

Grina keeps her position.

"Like… uhm… oh, did you see that new planet recently discovered? It's larger than Earth, there isn't much water but it's rich in vegetation. The downside is that it's too far away from us, so…"

Grina shows her face: she was frowning. Mirii stops talking, looking around with her eyes.

"… ah, did you hear about this new technologic car? It stays in the air, transform into a hovercraft and uses electricity to function! It's still in a very early prototype, though…"

Grina yawns loudly. Mirii squeezes her eyes, teeth are gritted.

"Sooo… ehm… I… uhm… I… I wonder when Splat Splat 64 will release their next album!"

Grina gasps loudly.

"Nooooo… don't tell me…!" She clenches her fists, her eyes sparkled.

"… huh?" Mirii tilts backwards.

"You are also a fan of Splat Splat 64?!" She stands up, with a wide smile.

"Why yes, I like their 8-bit music…" Mirii smiles too.

"Awesome!" Grina jumps high. "That's the stuff I want to hear! What's your favorite track?!"

"World Minus 1. I have it on my smartphone too." She pats her pocket.

"Yeah, it's one of my favorites! I pretty much bought all their songs digital and retail!"

Grina takes her wallet, opens it and extracts a plastic card with a photo of herself. On it, the girl wears glasses.

"This is my Splat Splat 64 club card! As you can see here…" She points a date. "It has been almost 4 years, since I joined in!"

Grina puts away the plastic card and then her wallet.

"Too bad there is work to do… otherwise, I would invite you and Bars to join in!"

"I don't need any invitations." Mirii smiles, as she takes her wallet.

The girl takes a plastic card with her own photo and shows it to Grina.

"I have been a member for 3 years and a half. I also visited the main club twice, if I remember correctly."

"Ah, that's nice! I didn't know you had **braces** , in the past…" Grina stares at her photo.

Mirii expanded her eyes.

"I remember people made such a big deal about them… but honestly, I wouldn't mind bringing them." She squeezes her eyes, sticking out her tongue. "I would rather wear glasses everyday instead of having distorted teeth."

"I-I didn't have distorted teeth!" Mirii puts quickly her card away, sweating. "It-it was just a minuscule defect!"

"You aren't making it look like that." She grins, doing a quick laugh.

Mirii puts away her wallet.

"St-stuff it, Grina… I don't use braces anymore! Look!" She shows her teeth.

"Sigh… I knew that, Mirii. I wasn't even teasing you." Grina snorted faintly.

"I saw you chuckling under your breath." Mirii quickly looks at the main entrance. "But anyway, Bars is taking too long."

"Yeah, what's keeping him inside for so long?" Grina goes near the interphone.

She pushes a button.

 _Who's there?_

"Barsy, do we have to wait for a bit longer?"

 _I finished up everything. I'm also bringing some soda with me._

"Oh cool idea! Luckily mirages don't trick your ears!" She rubs her hands.

Mirii swings her arm down, sticking her tongue.

 _Oh, I'm also bringing a bottle of water for Mirii. Hope she doesn't mind._

Mirii smiles. She walks closer to the interphone speaker.

"Thank you, Bars."

 _Ah ah! That's nothing, really… coming right back!_

A noise was heard and the interphone no longer buzzes through its speaker.

"Aaaah… I can't wait to get some refreshment!" She stands next to the main entrance door, licking her own lips.

Mirii puffs loudly.

"Me too."

 _*music starts playing*_

The girls stood immobile. Mirii picks her smartphone, looking on the screen.

" **Private**?" She touches the screen. "Hello? … good afternoon, Mr. Tarfo. … WHAT?!"

Grina jumped, expanding her eyes. Mirii became paler, her mouth is left open.

"… we'll reach the Headquarters immediately." She touches the screen again, storing her phone.

"What's it now?!" Grina shouts.

"Hunley fainted! We must run there!" Mirii turns her back, as she

"No, wait!" Grina picks her shirt.

"GRINA! DON'T PULL MY SHIRT!" She stood still.

"Sorry!" Grina leaves the shirt. "We can't leave without Bars!"

Mirii walks around rapidly, stomping multiple times.

"CURSES! WHY HE THOUGHT TO TAKE THOSE DRINKS NOW?!" She pulls her tentacles.

"Mirii, calm down!" Grina holds her shoulders. "Don't forget that Hunry is inside the Headquarters! They have a top-notch medical care inside and"

"THAT'S NOT THE POINT!" She turns, shouting in front of her face.

Grina backs away, with her eyes closed.

"Look, I know that he fainted but"

"No, Grina… the problem isn't that at all!" She grits her teeth, her eyes were watery.

"… then… w-what's it?" Grina puts her nail, on her teeth.

Mirii closes her eyes, taking multiple breaths.

"Mr. Tarfo said that Hunley… he…"

 _He became a monster, for a short period of time._


	21. World 4-1: Visiting a friend

Grina, Bars and Mirii were running for a while, but finally they reached the Headquarters! As the trio catches their breathes right near the main door, the tall girl opens her mouth.

"Wh-why you stopped?!" She said to Mirii.

"Because we can't get inside without this." Mirii shows a plastic card.

The girl passes the item inside a hole.

 _Click_.

They pushed the door and entered inside. Bars was the one closing the door. The first thing Grina saw was an Inkling woman standing still, clasping her hands.

"You must be Grina…" She squeezes her eyes.

"Oh… apparently I'm famous!" The girl grins. "Sorry, but autographs will be signed later!"

"They told me that the taller girl brings this name with her." The woman looks at Mirii and Bars. "You are all **Hun's friends** …"

"Correct." Mirii walks in front of Grina. "Where is he?"

"On the bed, resting…" Her face became serious.

Mirii starts worrying.

"C-can we see him?" She gulped.

"You are not allow to enter inside his room… however, you can stay near its door." She turns over. "Please, follow me."

The woman walks away: after a quick look, the trio nods at each other and follow the adult.

"At least, i-is he alright?" Mirii walks closer.

"I can't answer this question… no one can, at the moment." The woman didn't even turn to look.

Mirii's eyes appear watery, as her hand stands in front of her mouth. Grina notices this: she walks near her and whispers on her ear.

"Don't worry, Mirii… I'm sure Hunry is fine." Grina shakes Mirii gently, for a short time.

She nods, rubbing her eyes.

"Yeah, girl…! Hunter will not like that blue face you are making… so please be strong." Bars hugs Mirii for a moment.

She lies her hand on his arm.

"… thank you, friends." She smiles.

Her friends smiled too.

"By the way" The woman speaks, capturing the attention. "My name is Tonna. I'm a Supportive Agent, ready to give assistance to other agents in missions."

"Supportive Agent?" Grina asks. "I thought that Agents had the same job role!"

"No, Rangers are." She curves to the right, followed by the others. "Before Rangers become Agents, they must choose their career path."

"Seems interesting." Mirii speaks. "Is there a Leader role?"

"No." Tonna shakes her head. "The choice is wide, but for now you must focus on your jobs."

"And man, what job they handed to us!" Bars points at the Inkinators trio. "Defeating Octodudes and Octodudettes in their psychedelic city!"

"Don't forget the captain inside the can!" Grina winks.

"And Lisa! Poor little thing…! Her wings are like, getting rustier!" He looks up, thinking about it.

"Ah ah! Naaaah, those Octarians don't have that heart of cold! I think she's allowed to hit a quick gym or something!" She glances at a photo with a group of Agents: under it was written **Agents - Generation 5**.

After turning a corner, Mirii quickly sees Fara leaning against the door. The little girl raises her head, tracking down everyone else. She groaned, while taking a step in the middle of the hallway.

"Go awa'!" Fara shows her teeth.

Tonna and Mirii stopped, with eyes full of questions.

"Not ya!" She walks sideways, seeing Grina and Bars. "'hem!"

"Oh hi, Fara!" Grina waves her hand, while a smile grew on her face.

Fara puffs her cheeks, snorting.

"Wh-why are you acting like this…?" Tonna walks closer.

"Thos' ar' meani'!" She frowns even more. "'hey tretd Hun bad!"

One of Tonna's eyebrows raises, as she looks at Grina and Bars.

"Is that true…?"

Grina lowers her head.

"Sigh… I'm very sorry, Fara… I-I don't know what happened to me…"

"Yeah, me too…" Bars raises his eyebrows.

Fara didn't change her expression. Suddenly the door slowly opens: Hun come out with his eyes closed.

"BIG BRO?!" She asked in shock.

"Fara…?" Hun tries to open his eyes.

The little girl dives on her brother, with a hug. Hun smiled, as he caressed his sister's head.

"Hunley…"

The boy opened his eyes even more, noticing the other 4 Inklings.

"How are you…?" Mirii's eyebrows were raised.

"I'm fine. A bit tired though…" His legs were slightly bended down.

"Stay on the bed, Hun." Tonna grips his arm, lightly pulling him inside the room.

Fara followed Hun first, then all the rest. The woman let go the young farmer: he dived carefully on his bed. All the eyes were pointed on him.

"Ehm… is everything all right?" He asked slowly.

"Yes, Hunley." Mirii grew faintly a smile. "We were a little worried about you…"

"Oh… why?" The boy looks at everyone.

Mirii looks away, sighing.

"I… I don't know how to explain this…" She grabbed her arm.

"Come on, Mirii." Grina pats her shoulder. "I'm sure Hunry will not be scared."

Mirii inhales with her nose, loudly… then she looks at the boy, once more.

"Mr. Tarfo called us before… he said that you were battling to become an agent." She lays her hand on her chest. "But suddenly… you… **you transformed into a monster**."

Hun left his mouth open.

"P-please, don't cry now…" Mirii bites her lips.

The other Inklings were making a downturned mouth.

"You are n-not a monster! You are a person, just like us…!" She points at everyone.

"… I'm sure I'm not a monster now." He stands up, looking at a square-shaped mirror.

"It all happened earlier, Hun." Tonna steps forward. "While you were fighting Giulius, suddenly **you were becoming as dark as the night**. Even your own ink."

The boy trembled.

"Ya fintd afte' winnin' aghinst 'hat guy…" Fara walks closer to Hun, hugging his stomach. "Ya 'urnd back as yoself, too."

"Really? I was still colored dark…?" He caressed his sister's head.

"If she's referring to your Inkling transformation… yes, you were." Tonna sighs. "But that wasn't the only thing different from you."

Hun gulped.

"You were much paler than now. Your eyes were black and you were saying incomprehensive words." The woman rubs her hands, looking away for a moment.

"Wha'? But I undirsto' his 'ords!" Fara stood up, frowning at her.

"You did?!" Tonna's jaw dropped.

"Ye'! He was callin' mi!" She points to herself multiple times.

"Well… honestly, if I just turned black and that's it, I don't think I would be anything closer to a real monster." He frowned with a smile.

"You behaved like one, though… you were growling like a wild animal." Tonna sank on a chair. "Everyone was left speechless and one of the agents almost ran away!"

His smile disappeared.

"He must have been a coward!" Mirii shouts, looking at me. "Hunley, as I said before, you are not a monster! I'm sure you have more abilities, than it meets the eyes…!"

"I wish I could help… but I don't remember anything." Hun sighed.

"Not even the fight?" Tonna asked.

The boy looks up on the ceiling.

"I… I remember a race… and then… … nothing. Nothing else." He shook his head.

Grina walks slowly near Hun, but Fara quickly steps ahead. The light girl growled at her.

"Fara, leave her alone." He said slowly.

She spins towards her brother, with her eyes expanded. She stood like that for a while, before jumping on the bed and covering his stomach. She was frowning at Grina, showing her small fangs at her. The girl did a slight smile, then she looks at her friend.

"Hunry, listen… I know this is not really an easy moment for you… and I'm sure that after our talk, you'll be brought to the medical room again."

"THE MEDICAL ROOM?!" He screamed, crawling backwards.

"Hun, no!" Fara holds his stomach with even more strength. "'hey 'ill not 'urt ya!"

"I promise they will not use a syringe on you!" Tonna stands up.

"Whoa, woman! Why they should use one of them?!" Bars covers his arms.

"They will not!" Tonna looks at him. "It's just a complete check-up: they assured that a reason of your sudden transformation will be found!"

Hun breathes normally and slid on his bed, almost wanting to cover under the sheet. Grina was biting her hand.

"I'm so sorry, Hunry…! I-I couldn't know all this!"

"That's ok… really." He smiled.

She smiled too. Fara frowned even more than before, as she growled once again.

"Anyway… Hunry, you must know something!"

Grina took his hand.

"No matter what they will found on you… remember that **Inkinators** will always help you! Always!"

The boy tilts his head, staring at Grina's smile and thinking about her words. Bars lays his hand on the top of Grina's hand. Mirii lays her hand on his hand.

"Wh-what's this?!" Hun looks at each face rapidly.

"Just a confirmation of my speech…" She winks. "We truly reformed the Squad now!"

Everyone was smiling. Hun watches his sister hiding her fangs.

"Wait a minute! You… you aren't angry anymore? I-I mean, we are friends again?"

Grina nodded.

"Hey man…!" Bars raises his hand, grinning. "Sorry for the insults shouted last time!"

 _POW!_

Bars slammed his hand on Hun's shoulder: he screamed and quickly started massaging it. Grina, Mirii and Fara look at Bars each with a frown. He chuckles, while scratching the back of his head.

"We'll talk about this… later." Mirii was throwing lightning bolts at him, from her eyes.

He gulped loudly.

"It's better we go now…" Grina turns towards her farmer friend, with a smile. "We'll see each other tomorrow, Hunry! Get back in shape, because we are going to eat some cheeseburgers!"

He smiled even more, as he thinks about a cheeseburger ready to eat!

"He can't, Grina." Mirii speaks to her. "He ate one yesterday."

"Then we'll watch a movie!" Grina grins widely, raising her forefinger.

"What's a movie?" He asked, a bit puzzled.

"It's a story! I'm sure you'll like it!" She kept nodding. "But we'll see one tomorrow evening, ok?"

"Uh… ok?" He shrugged, forgetting that last statement.

"Now we must go." Mirii walks near him.

Her hand was slightly move towards his right hand… but she retreated that, blushing a lot.

"S-see you tomorrow!" She bowed down.

Hun blushed too, as confusedly trying to use some logic on those small but quick events.

"See ya!" Grina waved her hand.

Bars did the same.

"Bye…!" Hun waves his hand too.

The trio walked away from the room. Mirii closed the door, quickly tracking Bars walking in tiptoes but still doing some loud step noises.

"Bars." She stands completely emotionless.

He turns over her, jumping a bit as his face was covered in fear.

"I didn't like what you did to Hunley." She walks near him, as she cracks her knuckles.

Grina stretches her arm forward, as her eyes were closed and a big sweat drop appeared on her head.

"Ehm… Mirii, could you just please"

"I don't want to hurt him, Grina…" She takes his hand.

Bars starts sweating, as his eyes were glued on Mirii's soft hand.

"I wanted to show him, what pain is." She slightly twists his palm, pressing on it with her thumb.

Bars starts yelping, breathing as rapidly as he could. Grina covers her mouth with her hands, almost yelling.

"You see how little strength you need to use, in order to cause pain?" She kept her emotionless look.

The boy nodded fast, still yelping and breathing heavily. Mirii leaves his palm: he grasps it, gritting his teeth.

"I could have done worse, Bars." She walks past him. "Don't give me other reasons to use more painful examples on you."

Grina walks near him, as she frowns and followed Mirii with her eyes. Then the two Inklings look at each other: Grina wraps her arm around his shoulders, but her expression didn't change. Together they follow their friend, turning a corner.


	22. World 4-2: Missing feline

An empty can of soda falls on the ground, emitting its aluminum sound. A snort was heard, as a hand grabs the can and carefully positioning it on a lifted foot wearing a shoe. The can stumbles after a brief while, falling on the ground again.

"Oh, man!" Bars slaps his leg, with strength. "How everyone keep kicking up a can for so long?!"

Groaning, the boy took the can and tried to balance it on his right foot… just to see it fall down, right after.

"Ship!" He grasping his mouth, as he walks around quickly.

Not too far away from him, Grina turned a corner and stop right near it: her eyes rest on Bars trying to get the can on his foot. As the item falls over and the boy stomped the ground, the girl giggles a bit. She walks near him, as the boy was shouting incomprehensive words.

"It looks like someone has some struggling with the juggling!" She stretches forward, with a grin.

Bars turns over the girl, sighing loudly.

"Just forget it!" He moves his hand down, then he folds his arms while frowning.

Grina looks at the can: she picks it up and kicks it up once… twice… three, four, many times! Bars expanded his eyes, while his jaw dropped.

"What in the world?!" He keeps looking at the can going up and down.

"Eh eh… this is practice, my friend!" She lies her tongue on the side of her mouth. "It comes with patience… skills… and a bit of natural talent!"

Grina kicks the can even higher, picking it up quickly. She bows down, showing the item on her palm.

"Thank you for the cheers!" She raises her head, as she winks.

Bars smiles, shaking his head slowly. He took the can.

"You know what I'm going to do with this can?" He puts it on the ground.

Grina glues her view on the can. Bars slowly backs away… then he runs, kicking the can while grunting! The item flies away, passing over a tall wall. The girl exploded in a loud laughter, rolling on the ground.

"Genius! You are the best, Bars!" She stands up, dusting off herself.

"Eh eh!" He grins. "Make stuff fly is the kind of show I do!"

The girl giggles.

"Anyway! It sure is great to not go at school, yeah?" She rubs her hands, grinning widely.

Bars nods, closing his mouth tighter.

"School is like history: long gone!" He chuckles.

"Actually, Mirii told us yesterday that we do have something similar to school…" She taps her cheek, while looking up.

"But that's related to our Ranger jobs!" He beats his chest. "Which means, action study only!"

"I think she mentioned some books to study… but nothing too big, compared to our previous school!" She snaps her fingers. "Speaking of Miss Perfection…"

Grina looks around the area: only a few Inklings were present nearby. All of them were walking, while bringing a bag on their back. One or two look back at the duo, lowering their eyebrows.

"She's not here…" The girl checks on her pocket.

"Yeah, just haters…" Bars looks around too.

Grina picks up her smartphone, touching its screen and then putting the phone near her ear. She waited for a bit. Suddenly, a female voice was entering inside the girl's ear.

"Hey there, Mirii! Sorry to burst my way on the point, but are you coming here soon?"

The female voice spoke on Grina's ear, while Bars looks on the road nearby, searching for another can. Her smile grew a lot, all the sudden.

"Ooooh, so you wanted to give him a surprise hug!"

The female voice grew louder. Grina laughs.

"In other words, you pay him a visit even though you are going to be late for the mission? Yeeeeaaaah, suuuuure…!"

Mirii kept talking through the phone, as Grina listened to her with brief nods in between.

"Troublemakers are afoot around the city? Ha! Sounds like improvised mission time for us!" She raises her thumb, grinning.

"Really?!" Bars's eyes sparkled, while clenching his fists.

"No Barsy, I was just joking!" She sticks out her tongue.

"Aaawwwww…" Bars lowers his head.

Grina kept hearing what Mirii was saying.

"They escaped, huh? Then it's quite obvious their next location! … uh-huh… ok! See you soon!" She touches the screen of her phone. "Looks like we might have a party to bust."

"A party?! That sucks, man!" He opens his arms, as his eyes look at the girl storing her phone away. "I have tons of fun in one!"

"Me too, big boy!" She pats his shoulder. "But we can't let those creeps ruining OUR party! We must stop them at once!"

The two Inklings nodded, as their looks shifts on the faraway manhole. Grina peeked on her left.

"… Bars…" She looks at a red cushion resting on the top of a blue trash can.

"Hmm?" He turns his head on her.

"Am I seeing this right…?" She points at the item. "I can't see Judd there."

The boy blinked many times.

"Hey, girl… I can't see him too!" He scratches his head.

"… Bars… I have a bad feeling about this." She looks at him.

"What crazy feeling?" He raises one eyebrow.

Grina sighs.

"That lazy cat usually resumes his nap, after getting wake up by someone! Not to mention, the Station is closed so no matches are available! This could only mean one thing…"

She bites her thumb nail.

"… **Judd disappeared**!"

Grina holds her head, moving in place.

"Wh-why no one said anything about it?!"

"Maybe because no one cares about Turf Wars anymore?" He rubs his chin.

"What?! Are you kidding me, Bars?!" Grina frowns. "He isn't just the universal judge: he's also the city's mascot! Everyone likes to talk with him or even playing a bit! He was here even before this city existed! Do you wanna know what happens, if suddenly everyone knows about his disappearance?!"

Bars shook his head, as fear entered on his eyes.

"… **all the other Inklings are going to cause havoc all over the city**." She grits her teeth.

"Wh-what?! That's stupid, man!" He shouts, lowering his eyebrows.

"It might be just that…! But without Judd, **it's impossible to completely judge Turf War matches**! Therefore, people get angry and destroy everything in their path!" She punches her open palm, while squeezing her eyes.

"Funk…" He walks towards the red cushion, followed by Grina. "Talk about the worst nightmare ever!"

"Yeah, dude." She frowns a lot. "Honestly, I'm fed up too! I can't believe that our beloved cat just disappeared in thin air! Who would commit such crime?! He's so well received!"

"Well, it doesn't seem to be the case… I mean, someone could hate him." He lowers his head.

"Impossible!" She stands in front of him. "You must be made of pure ice to hate on a poor, innocent cat!"

She slaps her own legs.

"You know what? You must be even worse than cold itself, if you hate Judd! In fact, I'd throw a punch right on the eye, if a hater says that Judd sucks!"

Her eyes were covered on fire, as the girl takes quick loud breathes. The boy walks near, hugging her.

"Stay calm, girl. Whoever did this is going to pay. Yes, I'll be the one punching on the eye and I'll even rip their teeth off." He whispered. "I'll make sure the freak would not get up from the ground, until the hater admits every single mistakes said. Trust me on this one, Grina."

Grina left open her mouth, which transformed into a smile. She wraps her arms around him, closing her eyes.

"You are the best, Barsy." She blushes.

The boy blushed too. The two friends stood in that position, for a while…

 _Ahem._

They quickly free themselves, looking over at… Mirii! She was tapping the ground, while folding her arms.

"There is no time to waste, now." She points at the cushion. "Judd disappeared, but there is a very important clue left on the scene."

The short girl walks near the side of a blue trash can. She turns it to reveal a line of Octarian ink. Grina gasped.

"Oh no…! Th-the traitors decided to take Judd!" She looks at Bars.

"Exactly." Mirii walks near the manhole. "I'm sure that the cat is still in Octo Valley… I hope you are ready to tackle this mission."

Grina and Bars nodded, both lowering their eyebrows.

"Then… let's start this mission, using perfection." Mirii does a step on the manhole's grate.


	23. World 4-3: Enlarging the mission!

Octo Valley was hugged by a bright sky. Octarian-ink colored Inklings, wearing an Octoling suit and a helmet, were moving around doing various tasks: one of them was carrying a box, another one was shouting directions at other Inklings.

A male Inkling kept hitting the nail with a hammer, drenched in sweat. Another male was pulling a rope, lifting a box tied up. Together they were near a large machine, sitting on the center of that familiar circular area…

Two Inkling girls were sunk each on a different chair, talking about clothes. One of them was petting Judd: he purred, following the hand movements.

"Hey you!" A male Inkling walks near them, drying his forehead. "We need some hands here!"

"Tsk… don't be such a wimp!" One of the girls snorted, shaking her head and moving her hand down. "You have muscles for a reason!"

"What are you talking about?! I have so much strength that I could throw rocks out of this dimension!" He looks briefly towards a female Inkling shouting orders.

"Then use them, brute!" The caressing girl frowns at him. "Leave us alone!"

"No, no! That wasn't the point!" He walks near them, as he dries his forehead again.

The two girls backs away, doing a disgusted grimace.

"We got orders to finish up **the Teleporter** , before 11:30 AM!" He lifts his wrist, as he looks on its wristwatch. "And we are already late!"

One of the girl hissed, showing her fangs.

"We did enough already: my friend helped me taking Judd! What madness you want us to"

Suddenly, a scream was heard. Every Inkling raised their heads, looking in a direction. A male Inkling was running with his arms open.

"THEY ARE COMING! THEY ARE"

 _BLAM!_

He exploded in green ink, flying away as a little Squid! Mirii holds her weapon, looking through its scope on the same point, the boy got shot just recently.

"We got them off-guard!" Mirii shouted, still keeping her aim. "Move ahead!"

Grina and Bars nodded: they look at each other, while holding their respective weapons. With a wide grin, the friends start shooting out green ink on the ground! In front of them, determined opposing Inklings were shooting back, behind different pillars.

As Mirii controls her breath, she shots right on someone's feet: the targets yelled, retreating them behind. A quick look and the girl shots on a girl's long tentacle. She cried out in pain, hiding the tentacle and stop shooting.

Grina's Ink Tank was glowing: she throws multiple Burst Bombs against her foes! Bars dives inside the fresh ink and swims all the way, right under their noses. Jumping out of it he swings his weapon, hitting 3 of them at the same time.

Mirii lowers her weapon, ready to walk ahead. Her ears suddenly rose up, as she rolls on the ground. A quick look behind and the girl notices 3 Inklings shooting from her back! Standing up as agile as a chimpanzee, she runs like the wind making her foes eat the dust.

Grina and Bars reached the large area: the girl kept laughing, as she shots Inklings and mechanical parts. Bars throws a Suction Bomb right in the middle of the opposing group: they dived away from the wide blast.

Mirii arrived too, quickly pointing her weapon towards the faraway foes.

 _BLAM!_

One of them got splatted! A male Inkling crouches behind a large box and a female Inkling leans behind a skateboard ramp. Mirii holds her trigger, as she lifts her weapon: the ink projectile came out at high speed up in the air, but then it rapidly falls down following an arc path, landing right on that ramp.

 _SPLAT!_

Mirii smiled, as she saw a small Squid flying away, yelping.

"NO, GRINA!" Bars' voice ringed through the girl's ears.

She looks behind, in the middle of the area: Bars was standing in front of Grina, raising his weapon against the incoming Inklings. The tall girl was massaging her knee, sitting down. Before realizing, Mirii got grabbed by two male Inklings!

The girl desperately throws kicks in the air, screaming. She was thrown towards her friends, landing on her stomach. She stands up, gritting her teeth. Taking a look around, Mirii notices that the three of them were surrounded! All the enemies had their weapons pointed at the trio.

"They are on target! Hit them!" A female voice said.

They look around, seeing at each Octoshot.

 _ZAAAAAP!_

From above, a ray hits the Rangers! Mirii and Bars fell on the ground, yelling together with Grina. The ray disappeared in the same way it came. No one dared to look up.

" _Wh-what did they do to us…?_ " Mirii thought. " _I'm sure to be fine… … wait… no… something doesn't seem right…_ "

The girl looks at her hand: it feels somewhat heavy. Bars was grunting, trying to rise from the ground. Grina felt raising, but still sit down. She blinked many times, as thoughts and questions were tormenting her mind. She couldn't believe what was happening right now.

Those Inklings surrounding them… they were looking a bit shorter than before. No, wait… the building structures, those mechanical parts… weren't they bigger than now? Grina left open her mouth, as her eyes look down.

The foes were now appearing like dwarfs. They were even staring up too! Some of them backed away…

"Ehm… guys… am I seeing things?!" She looks at them. "Everything is starting to become… **smaller**?"

"Girl… you are not the only one!" His eyes expanded.

The trio slowly stands up, causing a small earthquake.

"They… they changed our size?" Mirii's eyes rest on a metallic pillar shorter than herself.

Grina gradually grew a smile… then, she laughs loudly.

"It looks like someone was crazy enough to give us a BIG gift!" She grins, looking at the baby-sized foes. "Thanks for the power-up, short stuff! This will make our work, much easier!"

Mirii smiled too.

"I-I'm very tall…" She looks down. "F-finally… I'm truly perfect now!"

"Ha ha ha! I was always good at squashing bugs! With those insects, it'll be even easier!" He punches his own palm.

Grina cocks her weapon, pointing down.

"Would you like to get flattened or giving up and retire your madness?" She closes one of her eyes, sticking her tongue.

"Ha! You fools! You really think to be invincible?! Your new size made you even weaker than before!" A male voice said.

"Oh yeah? How about we play Wrestling? That's… my thumb vs YOU!" She raises her thumb.

"I'm surprised **you can lift your own weapon so well**!" The same voice said.

"… huh?" Grina checks her weapon.

Thinking about it, Grina noticed that the Splattershot was as heavy as a bag full of large books!

"Grina… I think to understand." Mirii explains. "We may be giants… but our weight increased much more than our power."

"What?! That's stupid!" Grina frowns. "In every monster movies, they can walk and lift buildings!"

"How fast were those creatures?" Mirii squeezed her eyes slightly, as she tries to lift her weapon.

"… oh…" Grina expanded her eyes. "You mean… that we are slower…?"

"Man… this Roller is weighting a ton!" He grunts, while raising his weapon.

"N-no!" Grina looks at Bars. "It can't be! That Roller is as light as a feather!"

"You meant as heavy as a house, giant loser!" A female voice said.

"Aside from more power, you got much more weight!" The male voice explained. "Therefore, you are nothing more than mountains, incapable of fighting back as fast as before! That was our plan to finally beat you, Rangers!"

A whistle was heard and everyone charges against the giant trio! Grina holds the trigger: the ink shots were coming out like cannon balls but in a much more slower fire rate than before. The foes rolled away safely, shooting on the girl's legs.

Grina flinched, trying desperately to move out: as she lifts her legs, the girl couldn't push them as fast when she was in her regular form. Bars fully raises his weapon, under a minute. He slams it down, covering almost ¼ of the area, but missing everyone else.

Mirii kept holding her trigger, as her weapon couldn't keep up with the movements of a chubby male Inkling.

 _BLAM!_

She shot an inkline as long as a normal highway, still missing her target. Everyone else kept shooting on their legs, forming a pile of Octarian ink right under their feet. The Rangers were yelling in pain.

"I can't move!" Mirii cries out, as she tries to shake off the nasty ink. "We are too big to even sidestep!"

"Nooooo!" She covers her face, from the attacks on the top of the building structure.

Bars breathes heavily, as his legs hurt a lot. He was frowning, gritting his teeth.

"THAT'S… IT!"

He jumps high in the air as he lifts his weapon.

 _THUUUUUMMMPPP!_

He slams his weapon on the ground, causing a violent earthquake making the small opponents fall down!

 _C-cccrrrrrrrr…_

"Huh? Wh-what's that noise?" He looks at Mirii.

Mirii rose her ears. She looks down, noticing a crack passing under her feet: she gasped loudly.

"YOU IDIOT! YOU ARE DESTROYING THE FLOOR!"

"Oh…" His iris shrunk. "… mommy."

 _CRRAAAACCKK!_

A big hole opened right under them: the trio falls down towards the void, screaming. The small Inklings watched them falling, crawling near the edge.


	24. World 4-4: Giant problems

The trio was falling, as they screamed and waving their limbs. Only Mirii was looking at the ground getting closer to them. She turned away, making sure that the back was under.

 _THUUUUUMMMPPP!_

The Rangers landed near an old building: it collapsed away, destroyed in many pieces! They all were looking pebbles compared to the size of the Inklings. They were yelling in pain: Grina holds her elbow, Bars his knee and Mirii was crying from the back damage.

They calmed down after a while… making the silence have its way on the scene.

"… everyone… are you all right…?" Grina said in a low voice, with lowered eyelids.

"… somewhat…" Mirii lifts her back.

"Ship…" Bars does the same.

The boy and the girl stood up, unable to smile at each other. Grina was still on the ground, surrounded by small trees.

"… sigh… this is not good…" She stands up, by holding on her knee. "Well, where are we…?"

"The weird city, girl." Bars moves his hand, showing the solitaire platforms and floating buildings.

"Oh… I see." She rubs her eyes, looking to the left.

She saw a building as tall as herself. Slightly bending down, she could see a male Octoling from the window with his eyes pop out, shivering in front of her. He was slowly walking backwards… then he ran ahead, away from the room, almost tripping on a cable. Her giant eyebrows raises, as she bites her lips.

Looking down on the road, Grina saw cars resembling toys from the commercials… but everything was looking like that. She turns her head to see the minuscule doors, leading inside the skyscrapers: too small even for her small fingers.

"Grina…"

The girl rose her head, looking at Mirii.

"Is there a problem…?" She lowers her eyebrows.

Grina looks away.

"Everything… seems so small now." She said, resting her eyes on the same Octoling seen before, exiting from the main entrance.

He saw Grina and quickly retreats inside, yelling. Her heart felt falling down, almost forcing her to grasp it.

"Grina." Mirii's voice made Grina turn in front of her once more.

"Please, answer to me." The girl's expression didn't change. "Is there a problem?"

Grina sighs.

"… can you see this skyscraper on my right?" She walks sideways to the left.

"Yes?" Mirii took a quick look. "I don't see the problem."

Suddenly, Grina frowns inhaling loudly with her nose.

"You must be joking!" She shouts, as the girl carefully moves around the parked cars. "My apartment is inside a building even smaller than this one!"

Mirii backs away a little.

"Th-this is your problem?" A sweat drops from her forehead. "There are even bigger problems than this!"

Bars laughs loudly.

"Bigger! Totally genius! Pfff, ha ha ha ha!" He covers his eyes.

"SHUT UP, BARS!" Grina growled, ready to give him a punch in the guts.

Bars quickly stops with a cough, regretting his impulsive laugh.

"Sorry…" He lowers his head.

Grina frowns, but soon forgetting his stupidity: she returns to face her friend.

"What ARE those bigger problems you are thinking about?!" She folds her arms, waiting for a plausible explanation.

"We must find the captain and Judd." Mirii speaks calmly. "They are in danger, so"

"We are also in danger, Mirii!" Grina roared. "If it wasn't for this platform, we'd fall into the oblivion!"

"… tsk." She shakes her head. "This is our first time wearing such size. It's all about a matter of time, before we get used to this."

Grina expands her eyes, shocked from such statement.

"… you… you want to stay like this?"

"I like being this tall." She smiles. "No one can stop us, once we master our giant movements."

Grina couldn't hold herself.

"ARE YOU MAD?! WHERE ARE YOU GOING TO LIVE WITH THIS HUMONGOUS HEIGHT?!" She almost seems to grab the skyscraper nearby.

"A solution will be found!" Mirii frowns. "Mr. Tarfo will surely help us!"

"And what if he can't?!" She walks closer, lowering her eyelids with a vein popped up on her forehead. "Are you going to live inside a mountain?!"

"Nnngghh!" Mirii felt being stabbed on her stomach. "W-wait a minute… you… what if we can't return to our original size?!"

"NO!" She leans forward, showing up a lot of energy. "If we became huge, there must be the antidote to reverse the effects!"

"You forgot that the enemy wanted to make us grow to hinder our progress!" Mirii regains her normal posture. "Why they would bother creating an antidote?"

Grina breathes loudly, consumed from her rage. Bars stood in the middle, fearing a violent quarrel between the girls.

"Girls please…!" He looks both of them. "This is not the time to discuss! The Octoweirdos may come all the sudden!"

"But, but" Grina tried to reply, but the words were escaping from her mouth.

"Grina! I'm begging you!" He looks in her eyes. "Forget this for a minute and let's move somewhere else!"

Grina groaned and growled, clenching her fist tightly. She screamed, as she throws a punch to the top of the skyscraper: a giant hole was left, which made the rest of the upper structure lose its balance and fall on the lower part.

Grina gasped as she saw the entire building collapse in front of her very eyes. All was left is a bunch of rocks and unidentifiable objects scattered all around. She falls on her knees, with her face full of terror.

"… no… w-what I have done…" Her eyes became watery.

From under the rocks, the male Octoling emerges: he was full of dust, his clothes were torn, showing several wounds. Grina frees the guy from the boulders, then she picks him up with both her hands, carrying him right in front of her face.

"I-I'm so sorry, dude!" She cries. "I-I didn't want to destroy your house…!"

He stares at her, gulping and trembling like a leaf.

"I-I'm a monster! A horrible, despicable monster! Please, forget me…" She lies the small boy on the road.

Fear was still present on his face: he slowly runs away, not looking back anymore. The girl covers her face, sobbing and crying loudly. Bars hugs the girl, warming her against the cold atmosphere of Octopolis. He caresses her head softly, hoping that the girl will soon calm down.

Mirii bites her lips, staring at the scene. She couldn't stop thinking about the previous events, but mostly… she starts thinking about herself. Her own situation. What if that guy under the rocks… was Hun? Was she able to stay with him in the same way as before…?

Those thoughts started to form a mental nightmare. Forced to just look at Hun, because a single touch could be the end of him. And maybe… he wouldn't like having a giantess as a friend! She would be hated for the eternity, because of the dangers she could cause.

A tear falls from her eye, landing on a car which completely wets it. She walks near her friend.

"Grina…" Her head is lowered.

The called girl stands up, looking at Mirii with her eyes red.

"… maybe… there is an antidote, after all…" She says softly.

"… you think?" She tilts her head, puzzled.

Mirii nods, raising her head.

"Yes. Th-there must be! Especially after what happened before!" Her face was expressing fear, refusing to re-think about that previous nightmare.

Grina stood in silence, watching her friend reacting.

"I-I understand perfectly what you meant before! Th-this size is utterly disgusting! I-I don't want to be a monster too!" She was sweating, entering in a painful panic state.

Grina grows a reassuring smile. Bars smiled too.

"Thank you for comprehending, Mirii." She nods. "We… we must be strong and strive for the perfect size!"

Grina throws a punch in the air, grinning and trying to be sure of herself. Mirii smiled, appreciating the uses of the words, since those would be the same exact ones she would say. The happy mood was bringing a lot of positivity in their minds, making them forget the unpleasant events.

Bars looks around, as he wants to find something useful for the trio. What he noticed was… flies? No wait, those were colored differently… and their appearance were like a giant tentacle. The boy finally connects the dots, turning over the girls.

"Girls! The Octostrangers are coming!" He points in their direction.

The girls look at the swarming Octarian flying species, advancing without regrets. They were all making a serious face, not caring in the least about their size disadvantage. Some of them even spit down, like tough soldiers.

The Rangers noticed that the area was getting surrounded from tons of them! Grina cocks her weapon, Mirii holds the trigger and Bars grasps his modified Roller, all of them staying alert and preparing themselves mentally.


	25. World 4-5: The underground city

Grina walks ahead, holding the words she's about to shout.

"ALL RIGHT, YOU MINUSCULE TENTACLES! LET US RETURN IN OUR ORIGINAL SIZE!"

Her voice came out like a violent hurricane, which made some Octarians fly back. A Octobomber was carrying a megaphone, which kept touching to test it.

"If you want that, you must surrender to us." He gulps his own saliva.

"No! Especially to flies like you!" She grits her teeth, grasping her weapon more. "You better do as I said or else you'll all get splatted hard!"

The Octobomber grunts, growing more impatient.

"There is only one leader we follow… and he said _CHAAAAARRGGGEEEEEEE!_ "

The Octarians yell their battle cry, flying towards the Rangers with impressive speed. Grina starts shooting at them, splatting instantly most of her foes with just one projectile. Bars raises his weapon slowly, then he slams it on the ground, sending a waterfall of ink against the unaware opponents.

"DON'T SLAM THE GROUND!" Mirii shouted, as she shot a long line of ink, hitting some Octarians. "WE CAN'T FALL OFF AGAIN!"

"Sorry!" He moves around a skyscraper in tiptoes.

He looks down, scouting the ground with rapid eye movements: he was almost stepping on a car. Suddenly, a big ball of ink appeared out of nowhere. He lowers his eyebrows, getting near the purple blob which was gradually growing.

 _POOF!_

A tank came out of it! The boy jumped, almost losing grip of his weapon. The small cannon points at him and shoots a cannonball. It hits his leg, releasing a great amount of purple ink. The boy screamed, as his leg was burning from the substance.

Soon other purple blobs appeared on the ground: tanks came out of it, just like the first one!

"GIRLS! WATCH OUT!" He yells, as he massages his leg while moving away from the tank.

They turned around, noticing the tanks almost immediately.

"I'll take care of them!" Grina cocks her weapon.

She points her Splattershot at them, while closing one eye and sticking out her tongue. Holding the trigger, she shoots ink at them: one by one, the tanks exploded in green ink, as small tentacles fly away. Mirii kept focusing on the flying variety, sometimes splatting them, sometimes missing them.

Bars raises his Roller once more, looking at a group of Octobombers flying towards him: suddenly, Mirii's words were ringing through his mind. His eyes were ignoring the enemies spiting Splat Bombs: they quickly fly near his face, exploding in mid-air.

The boy covers his face, leaving his weapon to fall heavily on the ground, causing a small earthquake. As he walks backwards, while yelling, he steps on parked cars making them explode. Mirii turns her head, seeing the entire scene.

Grina was firing ink against other flying Octarians, becoming a Squid and submerging inside her own ink, regaining usable one.

"Grina! Bars is in trouble!" She holds the trigger of her Charger.

The girl quickly emerges, turning around as she gasps loudly. She fires ink against the small Octobombers, while gritting her teeth and lowering her eyebrows. They all exploded in green ink. Grina walks near Bars, leaning her hand on his shoulder.

"Are you all right, Bars?!"

"Urgh… I-I didn't thought those Octofatties can throw that fast!" He uncovers himself.

He has burning signs all over his face.

"Raise your guards! UFOs are coming in our way." Mirii shoots an ink projectile at one of them.

The target moved up, avoiding the attack by a small margin. The group of flying vehicles fire purple ink repeatedly: Mirii ducked, as the attacks passed. Those land on Grina's knee, making her scream a bit. Cocking her weapon, she shots back. Bars groaned, as he walks towards his weapon, stepping on cars and trees without any notice.

The UFO were moving fast and Grina's eyes were unable to catch up.

"Darn! Those things are too fast!" No projectile ever touches the UFOs. "What are we going to do?!"

"Leave it to Bars!" He comes near them, with his Roller raised.

He was also in midair.

"NOOOOOO!" Mirii's eyes expanded, as her arms stretched towards him.

He swings his weapon, sending a gigantic wave of green ink against the foes: they exploded instantly! However, Bars was landing on the ground…

 _THUUUUUMMPPP!_

Mirii inhales heavily, as her eyes turned red, a vein popped out from her forehead and clenching her fists as hard as she could possibly make. She was snarling loudly.

 _C-crrrrrrrrrrr…_

"Oops… I forgot..." His iris shrunk.

"I don't care if I'm not suppose to insult you…" She trembles, with anger overflowing all of her body.

 _CRRAAAACCKK!_

"YOU ARE AN IIIIIDDDIIIOOOOOOOTTTTT!" Mirii shouts as she falls into the abyss, together with Grina and Bars.

The Rangers yell: Grina was hugging Bars, closing her eyes. Bars looks up, seeing the city getting far away in a second. Mirii looks downs, surrounded by darkness. The fall seemed like lasting for an eternity, as no one could see anything.

 _THUUUUUMMMPPP!_

Mirii feels a solid ground on her back. Her legs were resting on someone and one of her tentacles was stepped from an elbow. The girl yelps, trying to push to away the elbow.

"Get off my tentacle!" She cries out, as the pain was growing heavier.

"Bars! My foot!" Grina cries out too.

"Cough, girl! Don't grip my throat, like that…!" His voice was choked.

The trio stands up: Mirii and Grina dusts off themselves. The place wasn't pitch dark, but the Inklings couldn't see their own hands. Grina wraps her arms around Bars' shoulders.

"We must return to the surface." Mirii says. "Let's see if there is another road over here…"

"How can you see, exactly?!" Grina asks, worried. "I could barely see my nose!"

"Touching the walls is the solution. Come over here and do the same." Mirii touches the wall, moving along it.

The other two do the same.

"But wait a minute, Mirii! What are we going to do, if we find a monster in our way?" Bars asks.

"What if the monster found us?" She keeps walking, without stopping.

"Oh… aaaah, right!" He laughs.

 _THONK!_

Bars yelps, massaging his forehead.

"What's it, now?" Mirii stops.

"I hit the ceiling, girl!" He lowers his back.

"Oh great… we surely needed this!" Grina folds her arms. "I'm going to scream, if we find a dead end!"

"Or a hole too small for us…" Mirii could touch the ceiling.

"Hey, we can always destroy some rocks!" Bars grins, bending his knees. "I mean, we are huge mountains ourselves!"

"That doesn't mean we can take them away!" Grina keeps touching the walls. "I can barely support my own weight!"

"Me too." Mirii walks, bending down. "This size is really complicating the situation…"

"Yeah! I'm almost crawling!" Bars walks on all his fours.

"Wait a sec! Is there… a light?!" Grina looks ahead.

A small but dim light was visibly appearing in front of the Rangers. They all smiled, as they crawled faster. One by one, they all got out from the small cave, seeing the scenery ahead: many buildings were covering the ground, with cars driving on roads.

Octolings and different Octarian species were walking on the sidewalks. The whole city was underground, covered in a purple fog. The source of light was seen on streetlights, flashy billboards, car lights and from the apartments through the windows.

"Whoa… is this…" Grina looks around, with her mouth open.

"Their real city." Mirii stops ahead, lowering her eyebrows. "Octopolis, if I recall it correctly."

"Man… do they really live in such conditions?" Bars looks up. "Do they ever get to see the sky…?"

Grina raises her eyebrows, shaking her head.

"I'd not wish this, even to my worst enemy."

"I'm sure the captain is around here." Mirii looks a very tall building.

It has spikes going around the building, in multiple floors.

"We are going right there and check inside." The girl lifts her foot.

"Wait!" Grina holds her shoulder.

"… what's it now, Grina?" Mirii doesn't change her position.

"W-we can't just go there like this! W-we could step on someone…!" She shivers.

"… did you notice something **odd** yet?" Mirii pushes Grina's hand away.

"W-what odd thing?" The girl looks around rapidly.

"The Octarians… **they are not reacting in front of our presence**."

Grina thinks about it.

"She's right Grina!" Bars walks near her. "An Octoweirdo saw me and kept walking on the street!"

"… why…?" Grina looks at the ground, with her iris shrunk.

"That'll be discovered soon enough." Mirii walks on the road.

Grina stretches her arm towards her shoulder… but the girl was already away. A car stops in front of the Inkling, as she passes with her face completely facing forward.

 _Excuse me!_

Mirii stops, as she looks down: a female Octoling was jumping, as she waves her hand.

"Could you tell me, where the Octo Pizzeria is?" She stands on tip-toes.

"Sorry, I'm not from here." Mirii shakes her head, as she bends down, hugging her legs.

"Oh, shucks…! Well, I hope you'll visit it! They say how their Pizza tastes like the best trip of your life!" She smiles, still standing in tip-toes.

"I'll remember the place." Mirii nods. "Can you tell me what lies in that tall building…?"

"The tall building? That's **where our leader lives**." She turns around, pointing in a direction. "Do you want to go there?"

"Yes. It's very important." An Octotrooper passed near her.

"Huh… then"

"HOLD IT RIGHT THERE!" Grina walks near the Octoling girl, bending down. "YOU…"

"Hmm?" She tilts her head.

"But… bu-but… wh-why are you not scared of us?!" She shouts, sending a strong wind out.

"Scared of you…?" She kept her head tilted.

"YES! WE ARE HUGE! WE COULD SQUASH YOU LIKE NOTHING! HOW CAN YOU ACT THIS CALM?!" Her eyes expanded, as her forehead was sweating.

The Octoling girl wasn't responding.

"Please, answer…!" She looks at Mirii.

The girl keeps staring at the Octoling girl, while hugging her legs.

"… all right. Yes, I know you are a giantess that could crush me without any effort." She holds her hips. "But… **would you really do that**?"

Grina drops her jaw.

"I could… accidentally at least!" She looks behind, seeing Bars reaching them.

"Well… that could be a problem indeed." She twirls her tentacle. "Just be careful, ok?"

Grina raises her back, as she stutters incomprehensive words.

"ARE YOU DUMB?! IT'S IMPOSSIBLE BEING CAREFUL INSIDE A CITY SMALLER THAN MY OWN HOUSE!"

"Then, don't go inside the city…? What's the problem?"

Her wristwatch starts beeping: she looks at it, gasping.

"Oh, shucks! I was forgetting my shift! Those French Fries sure can't be made from themselves…!" She chuckles. "Oh well, bye bye!"

The female Octoling sprints, as she waved her hand towards the Rangers. Grina couldn't find the words to comment what she just witnessed. Mirii and her friend stand up.

"… am I getting insane…?" She holds her head.

"No, Grina." Mirii looks at the tall building. "I have a hunch that their leader may know the reason behind this."


	26. World 4-6: Huge Inklings in the society!

The Rangers were walking on the sidewalk, with their eyes glued on the ground. Octarians pass around them, while reading a newspaper on the way or talking through the phone.

"Eh… eh eh!" Grina chuckles. "I-I was almost stepping on one of those tentacles and the dude was like busy with his skateboard!"

The girl kept laughing, gradually increasing the volume, as she passes over Octarians.

"Grina!" Bars turns the girl in front of him, as he holds her shoulders. "Would you stop laughing like that?! You are giving me the creeps!"

"Ha ha ha ha ha! Why I should?! This is the funniest joke I have ever seen!" She closes her mouth, as small laughs are heard from the inside.

"It's one of your insane attacks." Mirii walks near her, with lowered eyebrows. "You better calm yourself down or you could seriously hurt someone."

Twisting her head, Grina stares at her friend: a smile gradually grew, reaching her cheeks.

"Yes…" She nods. "That's actually a good idea… eeeeeh eh eh eh eh!"

She pushes Bars and walks ahead, crossing the road and looking on the sidewalks.

"GRINA, NO!" Bars stretches his arm, as he sprints towards her.

Mirii blocks him with her hand: a car passed nearby. On the other corner, a female Octoling appears: she kept looking through a bag full of French Fries, which she picks up and eats! Grina grabs her, lifting the girl near her face which was showing a wide grin.

"Hey! What's the big idea?!" The female Octoling moves her legs repeatedly.

"Uh uh uuuuhhh… hi there, dwarf!" Her eye twitched. "Tell me… am I a scary giantess?"

"Uh… no?" She tilts her head.

Grina laughs even harder.

"Soooo, I'm lifting you from like 25 feet, squeezing you like a mosquito and still everything is fine?!" She grins even wider. "Wanna see how far I can throw you into the air?"

The Octoling girl frowns.

"You must have some nerves to make people waste their time with your silly games! Don't you have something better to do?!"

Grina raises her eyebrows.

"Of course I do! I'm suppose to save the captain."

"And how picking up people is useful to accomplish your job?" The girl slightly squeezes her eyes.

The giantess left her mouth open, as sweats appears on her forehead.

"W-well, I actually… ehm… I w-wanted to… you see…"

"Tsk." She shakes her head. "To me, you are nothing more than a big, fat bully that want to cause trouble to the good working bees!"

Grina gasped.

"Unlike you, I have a shift scheduled in 5 minutes. If I don't reach the workplace in time, I'll get de-promoted and sent back home wasting even more of my time, since I don't even have the money to buy those university books to study for the next exams!"

The giantess felt covered in complete mud. Her eyes became watery.

"And today I was suppose to get my salary too! I need that to pay the university taxes, the rent, food for the future days and"

"Ok, ok, I understand!" A tear dropped from her eye. "I'm sorry! I-I'm so sorry for causing so much trouble! I couldn't imagine your job is this important for you!"

The female Octoling didn't change her expression at all.

"Look, I want to fix this mistake, ok?! Can I… bring you to your destination?" Her mouth was trembling, as other tears were coming down.

The girl smiled.

"That would be a good idea!"

Grina smiles too, as she rubs her eye.

"First, walk down the road."

Grina nodded and starts walking away from her friends, which were watching in silence.

"Ehm… what we do now, Mirii?" Bars' eyes were following Grina, until she turned a corner.

"We go to that tower." Mirii walks away, without looking at Bars.

"Without Grina?!" He stands in place, throwing down his arms.

"She has to help that Octoling." Mirii stops, without turning. "Once she's done, a quick look around the city will be enough to find our location."

"No, Mirii! That's like, completely wrong! She'll not like the fact that we left her behind!" He walks near her.

"Did she asked to wait here?" Mirii turns around.

"… she… she forgot! I'm sure of it!" He looks behind, seeing Grina bending down on her knees from a small distance.

"I don't care about that." Mirii said without changing her expression. "I want to be done with this whole situation. Wasting time could be fatal for us."

Bars scratches the back of his head.

"You know… you kinda sound like that girl eating chips on the street."

"… so? What are you trying to imply?" Mirii squeezes her eyes.

Bars looks away for a moment.

"Sheesh, girl… I can't even point out a coincidence?"

"Talking should be used for important points. Coincidence is nothing without a good reason behind." She stands rigid, frowning slightly.

Bars sighs, rolling his eyes.

"Sorry for the wait!" Grina runs over her friends. "I helped out that girl, before…"

"… I hope you didn't flat anyone in your run." Mirii said.

Grina expanded her eyes, as a gasp left her mouth. She looks down and around, seeing nothing in particular. She sighed in relief.

"I was forgetting to be a giantess, for a minute!" She laughs, as a sweat drop appears near her forehead.

Mirii shakes her head.

"Let's get moving, now. We must reach the tower and see if the captain is in there." Mirii walks ahead.

Grina and Bars look at each other: they shrug and follow their friend. They were walking for a while, almost near the tall building.

"This place sure is strange, isn't it?" Grina looks down to a male Octoling pointing her with a smartphone.

He then looks at the smartphone. Grina raises an eyebrow.

"I think that dude just took a photo of me." She grins. "Maybe we are getting popular!"

"Tsk…" Mirii said. "Anyway, we finally arrived."

The trio look up, seeing the tall building almost reaching the ceiling.

"Whoa… like, who lives in such humongous place?" Bars kept looking up.

"Probably their leader." Grina too. "I wonder why this leader never stopped us, before…"

"… good point, Grina." Mirii looks at her. "This may be a trap, after all…"

"Ehm… how are we going to get inside?" Bars bends down, looking at the main entrance. "This door is smaller than my little finger…"

"We don't, Bars. With such size, we can menace the leader into giving the captain back." Mirii touches the building walls.

"W-wait a minute, Mirii! What if this building has another reason to exist?" Grina stretches her arm, near her friend's shoulder.

"… questions like this, will get us nowhere. However…" She moves her leg backwards. "… this would."

She kicks the building, followed by a small earthquake. People around start to yell and run away from the Rangers.

"That was a slick kick, girl!" Bars saw Mirii lying her foot down.

Grina frowned a bit.

 _YOU!_

An obese male Octoling with mustaches comes out of the main door, shaking his fist in the air.

"STOP CAUSING A RUCKUS OR ELSE I'LL CALL THE COPS!"

Mirii bends down, grasping the man and lifting him in front of her face.

"What's inside the tower?" She says without changing her expression.

"Ugh! Wh-what are you"

"I said…" She squeezed him a little harder. "What's inside the tower?"

"ACK! Cough, cough!" He tries to push himself out of her grasp. " **The tower belongs to the Octarian Government**. You have no business snooping inside!"

Mirii stood in silence… then she opens her palm, picks the man from his shirt with her fingers, as she holds him into fin air. He gasped, quickly covering his eyes!

"Is there an Inkling inside the tower? Along with a sea-horse?" Mirii looks at the man.

"Wh-who are those?! I-I don't know anything about them!" He keeps his eyes covered.

"… I don't know if you can survive from such fall. I doubt with that fat you are carrying around." Mirii slightly swings him around. "Nothing will save you from your fate… except for the truth."

He gulps.

"Th-the truth…?" He trembles.

"Yes. Please, consider your situation."

"… ehm… actually… I… **I think I saw those two you were asking before**." He peeks down. "LET ME GO ALREADY!"

Mirii looks at him for a while: she rests him on her palm.

"Tell me more."

He sits down.

"Alright… I don't know much about them, but **I've seen the two inside one of our prisons**!"

"So, they are inside…" She looks at the building. "Very well. We request you to free the prisoners."

He expanded his eyes.

"N-no! I-I can't do that! I-I'll lose the job!" He grasps her hand, trembling.

"… do you prefer losing your life?" She frowns a little.

"No! I-I need that to work!" He breathes rapidly.

Grina and Bars look at each other, as their eyes expanded even more.

"Then, go inside the building and talk to your leader. If you don't come back with the two prisoners, I'll be forced to take regrettable actions against you." She moves her head over him. "Did you understand?"

The man nods rapidly. Mirii carries him near the main door, which he immediately takes.

"Heh… lucky thing we are huge too!" Grina folds her arms, showing her teeth. "With such size, you sure can be really scary, Mirii!"

"You better prepare your weapons…" Mirii turns over, facing them. "The man is coming up with something to take us out."

"Ehm… what plan he's thinking to use?" He rubs his chin.

"Maybe… that?" Grina points on the road.

On their way, police cars are coming! Following them, the tanks…


	27. World 4-7: City war

The Rangers look around on the roads: soon police cars almost covered the road! The tanks move their cannons, pointing at the trio. A male Octoling come out from a police car, in the far distance: he was holding a megaphone.

"Inklings! Surrender yourself!" The man talks through the megaphone. "You are not authorized to cause havocs inside Octopolis!"

"We are going to do that, if you don't return the captain to Inkopolis." Mirii says, grasping her weapon.

"Mirii…" Grina whispers over her ear. "We can't do that! Innocents are living in those building."

"Who ever gave you such idea?" Mirii whispers too. "If you were smaller, would the Octolings act in the same way?"

"Of course they would! They are all honest people!" Grina frowns slightly.

"… you should stop sleeping on your head, Grina." Mirii turns over the police, talking normally. "Free the captain from the cage and we shall leave the city without any harm."

"We checked the prisoner you are talking about." The man took a quick glance over a smartphone. "He can't be set free."

"The reason?" She points her weapon towards the man, as she looks through her scope with her right eye.

"It's confidential information! I can't say that or else I'll lose the job!"

"Your job should not be above your own life." She closes her left eye. "This is my last warning: free the captain or else the city is done for."

"Not the city! I'm begging you!" His eyes became watery. "We worked hard to achieve those results! We need to work even more, to stabilize the economy and guarantee a future for our children!"

His words ringed through Grina's ears: she left her mouth open.

"If one of us lose their jobs, the economy will never grow and the leader will force us to leave the city, living in those floating islands again!"

Grina covers her mouth, gasping lowly.

"Please, consider our situation! We can't stand seeing those abysses any longer! Especially when our dears had those unfortunate trips!" He dries his tears.

" _No… th-this is why…_ " Grina remembers the previous moments. " _This is why no one was scared of us… I-I finally understand!_ "

"… I don't think we can find an agreement, sir." Mirii shakes her head. "I'm afraid to announce that the only solution is using the force."

"NO, MIRII!" Grina pushes her Charger down.

"Grina?!" Mirii frowns.

"You can't ruin their lives!" Grina grits her teeth. "Don't you see that they already had enough trouble as it's?!"

"Don't you dare ask useless questions." She pulls her weapon away Grina's grasp. "We are in trouble too, if we don't save the captain. Especially you…"

"Me?" Grina points at herself.

"Yes. You keep accusing yourself for dragging the captain and the sea-horse into this mess."

Grina stood in silence.

"It's not Grina's fault!" Bars roars. "She couldn't know any of this!"

"I'm not accusing her either, Bars." Mirii looks at him, calmy. "You know what Grina said back at the treehouse… you know the promise she said in front of us."

"The promise of saving those two…" Her eyes rest on the road. "I still want to keep it…"

"Grina…" Bars raises his eyebrows.

"You know what to do." Mirii nods. "No hesitation is allowed."

The girl looks at her friends… then at the small police officers, out from their cars. She squeezes her eyes, as her teeth were gritted even more. An odd noise starts infiltrating through her ears: it was coming from above. She drops her Splattershot and pulls out Mirii's Charger, from her hands!

She holds the trigger and aims at the tower nearby.

 _BLAM!_

The building is now covered by a straight green line: after giving the weapon back to her owner, Grina becomes a Squid and swims on the new ink path.

"STOP IN THE NAME OF THE LAW!" The man pulls out his gun and shoots towards the green ink.

Mirii holds the trigger of her weapon, as she aims down at the police officers.

 _BLAM!_

They all got splatted! The tanks were still present: they shoot a cannonball full of purple ink in their direction. Bars raises his Roller, swinging a giant pile of ink towards the foes: some tanks exploded in green ink. The nearby buildings were also slightly covered by the green wave.

Grina reached the top of the tower: she returns into her humanoid form, only to look at a helicopter already turning its blades at full speed, raising from the ground. Inside, covered a bit from dark glasses, a figure could be seen.

The head had the shape of a cap, with something sticking out from behind it. The neck stretches forward too… Grina gasped. She jumps, as she tries to grab the helicopter: it flies up quickly, away from her grasp. The vehicle moves forward, flying over the buildings.

The girl looks down, seeing her friends shooting over tanks and UFOs.

"GANG! THAT HELICOPTER HOLDS THE CAPTAIN!" She points at it.

Mirii and Bars tracked it down: they both become Squids and swim along the ink path. The streets were empty, except for the occasional tank passing by. Some of those flip sideways, from the waves coming from the green ink. Despite their slow movements, the cannons couldn't turn in time to properly aim at the two Rangers.

They arrived at the end of the ink path: they emerged as humanoids, still running after the helicopter. Mirii aims at it, holding the trigger.

 _BLAM!_

The projectile couldn't reach the helicopter. Mirii lowers her eyebrows, leaving her mouth open. The buildings around her were gradually growing. A quick look up and the girl could notice an UFO hitting her and Bars with a white ray.

The friends shrink, stopping at their standard sizes.

"Oh, funk… they shrunk us!" He looks around in the now larger city.

"It doesn't matter. With this size, we can still catch up the helicopter." She dives inside the ink as a Squid.

Bars looks at the girl swimming through the ink. He looks behind: on the top of the tall building, there was nothing. He frowns slightly: he dives inside the ink and swam all the way back. He arrives near the tower in a minute or two.

He transforms into his normal form and ducks down, behind a police car flipped sideways. Peeking up from the car hood, the boy saw a group of police officers surrounding Grina in her normal size, while grasping her Splattershot.

She drops it, raising both her hands, as a frown gradually grows on her face. The boy grips the car hood harder. As he was about to raise his Roller without sweating, something catches the corner of his eye: his Ink Tank was blinking.

He smiles, pulling out his Killer Wail. Bars carefully aims the weapon towards the police officers. One of them was walking over Grina, holding a pair of handcuffs. He stops as he saw a pair of waves surrounding everyone. A blast sound splatted the police officers, making them fly away as little Octopi.

Grina was covering her ears, as she grits her teeth and squeezes her eyes. A shadow wraps around the girl. She opens her eyes, looking up: she smiles once she tracked down Bars. The girl jumps on him, wrapping her arms around him and lying her head on his shoulder.

"Thank you Barsy…" She closes her eyes.

Bars smiles, caressing her head. They suddenly blush, as Grina backs away looking at the boy in the eyes.

 _PUM!_

A cannonball full of purple ink landed near the friends! The girl jumped, almost losing her balance.

"Let's get out of here!" Bars becomes a Squid.

After grabbing her weapon, Grina turns into a Squid and follows her friend through the large green ink path. UFOs were flying over them, but no one stopped. The tanks were leaving a trail of purple ink, as they marched forward, without staring at the Squids passing through.

The path became thinner, but the Squids kept following it. They were passing Octarians looking over the green ink, with concerned eyes. Some of them were discussing with each other.

 _You see this? Inklings did that!_

 _Yuck! Who barfed on the floor?!_

 _Darn those Inklings! I knew they were up to no good!_

 _They sure disappeared, those giant problems…_

The Inklings heard their voices, as they keep swimming by. Grina's mind was filling with questions and thoughts about those comments, which kept ringing through her ears. She raises a bit upwards, frowning. She kept following the path, though.

Their swim comes to a stop, when they reach the end of the path. They emerged as Inklings: behind them there were the buildings… in front of them, there was a path covered in multiple rocks. Grina shoots on the rocks: the ink slides off.

"I guess we found the reason, why the path stops."

Grina turns over Bars: she winks, while grinning.

"Shall we reach our friend?"

Bars nods. The friends run on the rocks: behind them the tanks were standing still on a small hill. They turned away, marching towards the city.


	28. World 4 Boss - Rocks

Grina's foot lies on the rock, sinking in it slightly.

"You know Barsy…" Grina looks at the rock, she's about to step on. "Those rocks… are kinda weird."

"Uh… like you feel them all… soft?" Bars carefully steps on a rock.

"Yeah! You nailed it, big boy!" She jumps on one, while grinning. "It feels like I'm stomping through pillows!"

"Ehm, girl…" A sweat drop grows near his forehead. "Wouldn't too worry about that, a little bit…?"

"Worry? About what?" She stomps a rock.

The rock deflates. The girl laughs.

"This is so fun!" She keeps giggling. "I could do this for all day!"

Bars keeps looking at the rocks, as his eyebrows were raised and his mouth was downturned. Suddenly, one of them grew out yellowish eyes and a large mouth. Bars yells, falling down on the rocks. Grina turns over quickly.

"WHAT'S IT, BARS?!" She looks at the boy raising his back and pointing over a rock.

"Th-that thing… THAT THING HAD EYES!" He couldn't keep his finger still.

Grina tilts her head, then she looks in the same point indicated: the rock was appearing normal.

"… Bars… did you saw a bug?" She looks at him.

"No! No it wasn't a bug!" He stands up. "Man, I'm like sure of what I saw!"

Grina kept looking at him in silence… as a smile slowly grows.

"Uuuuhm… girl? Wh-why are you smiling…?" He retreats his hands.

"I didn't know… Barsy." She walks over him.

"K-know what?!" He looks at the girl standing on her tip-toes.

Grina giggles.

"You sure are full of surprises…"

"Wh-what are you talking about now?!" He sweats.

"… being scared of bugs is kinda priceless… you know." She lowers her eyelids.

"Again?! I'm not scared of them, girl!" He folds his arms.

"Ooooh, come on! Don't lie to your best friend!" She pushes him a bit.

Behind her, multiple eyes emerged from the rocks, each with a mouth. Bars left his mouth open, trembling.

"I mean, I may be considered _crazy_ by someone… but even I would never believe in something so stupid as _eyes on a plain rock_!" She closes her eyes, lying her hand on her chest.

Bars keeps stuttering the girl's name, as he points behind her.

"Eh eh…" She shakes her head, slowly turning around. "Like really. It must be an innocent flying bug just re… re… r-re…"

Grina's iris shrunk: all the rocks frowned at the Rangers, growling. They both screamed at the top of their lungs! The monsters were also on the floor: Grina jumped on Bars, as he picks her up. He runs away as much as he could!

However, he reaches a dead end.

"THE SQUID?!" He stops. "THE EXIT IS GONE!"

Grina squealed, as she lies her head on Bars's shoulder: she's trembling.

"DO SOMETHING, BARSY!"

The boy jumps over as many rocks as he could! The stomped rocks closed their eyes. The rocks on the ceiling start spitting purple ink against them. He stops to let a pile of it disappear on the rock, he ducks as another projectile passes above him.

He kept jumping on rocks, while avoiding the purple ink. Suddenly, his leg sunk on a rock. He immediately looks down: a rock grabbed him with the mouth. Bars yells, as he tries to pull out his leg.

 _BLAM!_

A projectile hits the rock, yelling. Bars pulls out his leg and looks forward: Mirii was on the other edge, standing on a flat surface.

"HURRY UP, BARS!" She shouts, as she looks through her scope on another rock.

 _BLAM!_

A rock in front of him got hit, yelling in almost the same way! Bars quickly jumps on the screaming rock: looking forward, he saw Mirii shooting at another rock. The boy kept jumping on yelping rocks, until he jumps out from the cave.

"Phew! That was too close!" He looks at Mirii.

Grina kept trembling, curling up while still hugging Bars.

"Grina… the nightmare is over." She pokes her shoulder.

The girl jumps out followed by a ricochet sound, squealing.

"… Mirii?!" She expands her eyes, as she turns around.

"Yes." She nods. "Would you now stay calm?"

Grina was shivering. Bars hugs her.

"Ssshh, ssshh..." He whispers on her ear. "I'm here now. Relax your lungs…"

The girl nods, taking big breathes. They both smile at each other. Mirii coughs, getting the attention of the two.

"Did I ever mention to take a break?" She grabs her hands, behind her back.

"Uhm… no?" Grina grins, as her eyebrows raise.

"Correct. Then, let's get moving already!" She turns over. "I saw the helicopter flying that way!"

Mirii points at a large hole, on the ceiling. Grina and Bars look at it.

"Oh maaaan…!" He opens his arms. "Like, we are stuck inside a stupid jar!"

"Heh… we are better luck growing a pair of wings!" She grins.

"Would you stop joking around?!" Mirii shouts at both of them.

They raised their hands up, in front of her friend.

"If you didn't realize it yet, this isn't just the way to follow the helicopter… it's also our only way out!"

"WHAT?!" Grina looks around the area.

It was circular, surrounded by the void. The surface was made of normal rock.

"… oh-oh…" She bites her nails. "You know… I-I wouldn't mind being a giantess, again…"

"Who wouldn't!" Mirii frowns in front of her. "But let's not think about the past and"

 _CLANG!_

A loud noise came behind the backs of Grina and Bars. Mirii expands her eyes.

"… wh-what was that?!" The girl slowly turns over.

Bars does it too: both look at a giant yellow pair of eyes and a large mouth. The monster was standing right where the Rangers got out. The creature growls in front of them, so loud that the Inklings cover their ears. The fiend tries to pull out from the hole.

The ground was shaking. Dust was falling down from the ceiling.

 _SBAAAAAM!_

The monster was now free, flying above the area using long octopus-tentacles and keeping an eye to the small friends. The previous hallway was filled with boulders. Grina runs over the blocked entrance, taking one of rocks and tossing them away.

"COME ON, GANG! WE MUST GET OUT OF HERE!" Her eyes were watery.

"No!" Mirii raises her Charger, looking at the monster through her scope. "There would be no time! We have to fight the monster!"

Bars takes his Roller out from his back: he looks at Grina, nodding while frowning slightly. The girl looks at him: her tears slowly returned inside the eyes. She nods too, as she grasps her Splattershot from behind her back, gritting her teeth while pointing her weapon against the monster.

The monster dives towards the Rangers: they roll away, barely passing away. As she kept holding the trigger, Mirii stands still as she aims towards the creature.

 _BLAM!_

The projectile hit the fiend, but nothing happened…

"What?!" She lowers her weapon, with a shocked expression. "The Ink didn't do anything…?"

"I'LL COVER THIS PLACE UP!" Bars runs, while his weapon rolls on the ground, leaving a trail of green ink.

Grina hold her trigger and jumps around, but the projectiles couldn't reach the monster. The boss dives again, this time aiming for Grina. She becomes a Squid, swimming away from the fiend. The monster crashes on the green ink, as the tentacles glued on the ground.

"A big quantity of ink is the key!" Mirii aims to the giant eye.

 _BLAM!_

The monster screamed, leaving the mouth open. From the body, the rock monsters emerged: they spit purple ink against Mirii! Grina looks inside the mouth, seeing now a flat surface on its walls. A quick glance behind and the girl saw that her Ink Tank was glowing.

She actives her Special: a barrage of Burst Bombs were throw inside the monster's mouth! The boss was yelping, trying to get free from the green ink pond. Eventually, the creature rose up from it: flying above the area, the monster dives down with the head below.

 _BAAAAAAAAM!_

The green ink on the ground jump out, dissolving into thin air.

"SHIP!" Bars was standing on his knee, with a hand holding the floor. "I have to cover the ground all over again!"

The boy slams his Roller down and runs with it. As the monster was flying around, the rocks were still on him. They kept spitting purple ink, towards the Inklings. Mirii moves behind, keeping her eye on the scope: she steps on purple ink.

Grina looks to her right, seeing Mirii yelping as she tries to pull her leg out. The monster was diving in her direction.

"NOOOO!" Grina shoots at Mirii's feet.

Her friend was free: she becomes a Squid and swam out of the way, missing the monster by an inch. She emerges as a humanoid, near Grina.

"Thank you!" She takes away some green ink from her cheek.

"Anytime!" Grina raises her thumb.

Taking a quick around the arena: despite Bars' efforts, purple ink was covering the majority of the ground.

"Let's help Barsy out!" She pats Mirii, as she shots green ink down.

The short girl raises her weapon, aiming on the floor.

 _BLAM!_

A long line of ink was formed ahead. She swims into the pile, emerging from the other side, already with her finger pulling the trigger. All the sudden, the rocks retreat inside and the monster puffs his cheeks.

"LOOK OUT!" Mirii points at the monster. "HE'S ABOUT TO ATTACK!"

The monster barfed a giant pile of purple ink on the floor, covering almost the fresh green kind.

"Yuck!" Grina grimaces. "I wouldn't touch that ink in a million of years!"

As Bars keeps rolling with his weapon, his Ink Tank glows. After checking it, the boy looks at the monster flying down: he quickly takes his Killer Wail and aims carefully ahead of the fiend. The sound blasts throughout the area!

The girls cover their ears: the creature's iris roll around the eyes at fast speed. The monster lands on the arena, leaving his mouth open. Mirii's eye sparkled, as she frowns slightly.

"You keep the rocks busy." Mirii shots another straight line of green ink.

Grina looks at her Ink Tank: it was glowing.

"Ok!" She grasps her weapon, as she walks near the rocks.

They were spitting against Grina now. Mirii walks near the monster's head, activating her Special: in a matter of a second, the girl throws many Splat Bombs inside the fiend's mouth. The creature immediately closes the mouth, frowning at the Inkling.

The body expanded for a short while, the eyes almost pop out. Green smoke was slowly coming out from the mouth. The rocks were all sticking their tongues out, crying. The monster looks around as the eyes were getting red and watery.

The fiend looks up at the hole, for a short while: the creature flies up, covering the hole with the mouth. The place went dark… until light was coming from the tail opening up.

"Let's investigate the monster!" Mirii swims through green ink, jumping on big spots.

The Rangers quickly got under the light: they look up, seeing the intern walls completely green.

"Well… it looks like we can climb out, using our colossal friend here." She pats the greenish wall.

"Ehm… is it safe?" Bars lowers his back.

"You want to question that inside this cave?!" Mirii jumps on the wall, turning into a Squid. "Move out!"

The other two rapidly grasp the walls as Squids. They kept jumping, reaching the top in no time. After Bars jumps out from the mouth, the monster backs away, growling loudly.

"Yeah, yeah! You lose! What a big deal!" Grina looks down the hole, frowning.

"Ugh… uuugh…" The boy was sitting down, looking at the sky. "This last adventure was terrific… literally."

"But it was fun!" Grina wraps her arms around his neck. "I want to do it again!"

"You want what?!" Bars expands his eyes, frowning a lot.

Grina giggles.

"Ooooh, Barsy… I knew you are a big coward." She sticks out her tongue, with a wink.

"Says the girl who kept trembling like a leaf, for all this time!" He grins.

"I was just acting, big boy! I wanted to give you some courage!" She rubs his cheek, with her fist.

"Courage my Roller, girl!" He pushes down her fist. "I was almost inking myself too!"

The friends laughed together. Mirii was watching the entire scene: she smiled while folding her arms, then turns around to look at Inkopolis, from the top of a hill.


	29. World 4 More - WE FORGOT JUDD!

**Are you liking this story so far? Please let me know about it in the reviews!**

* * *

Inkopolis, under a bright sky! The Rangers were walking on the road, talking with each other.

"Eh eh, so in other words… this was the craziest adventure we had yet!" Grina was gripping her hand's back with both her hands. "Gotta write down all that adventure in a script and send it to some movie studios!"

"Technically girl, all our days were like a movie!" He adjusts his Roller attached to his back. "To think some weeks ago, our lives were getting like ultra-boring and stuff!"

"That's true, Bars." Mirii turns towards him. "Since we met Hunley, situations keep happening in front of us."

"Oh really…" Grina smiled, lowering her eyelids. "I thought his presence did something unexpected…"

"Wh-what thing?" Mirii looks at Grina.

"I don't know, exactly… a certain girl suddenly has an interest on farms…" She grins.

Mirii blushes.

"Wh-who are you talking about?!" She frowns a little.

Grina giggles.

"You know, getting a little serious now… when are you going to confess him?"

Mirii blushes even more.

"CONFESS?! CON… CONFESS?! ME?!" She breathes rapidly.

Grina and Bars laugh together.

"THIS IS NOT FUNNY!" She pulls her tentacles, gritting her teeth. "STOP MUMBLING NONSENSE!"

"Yeah ok, I'll not mumble nonsense… I'm SHOUTING nonsense!" Grina chuckled. "Your heart is going to sing sooon…!"

The Rangers were now walking through the main plaza.

"Nnnggghhhh!" Mirii moves her lower jaw left and right, rubbing her teeth. "You… and your stupid… arguments about hearts…"

Bars looks to his left, seeing a red cushion…

"Oh…" His eyes expanded.

The boy taps on Grina's shoulder.

"You need something, sir?" She turns around with a smile.

"The cat, Grina!" He keeps pointing at the cushion. "We forgot to rescue the cat!"

Her smile gradually becomes a downturn, her eyes were almost popping out.

"OH NO! HOW COULD I FORGET SUCH IMPORTANT ICON?!" She slaps both her cheeks, as her hands rest on them.

"Quick, everyone!" Mirii runs on the manhole. "We must return to Octo Valley, before they could get away with Judd!"

The girl jumps through the grates, going inside the manhole. Grina was stumbling.

"How… did I... forget… Judd…" Her eyes were looking up.

"Come on, girl!" Bars holds her from the shoulders, then starts shaking her. "This is not the time to be sad! Judd counts on you!"

Grina's head lowers a bit behind… then it raises up, along with a frown growing on her face.

"I… I'M GONNA SPLAT SOMEONE, TODAY!" She grits her teeth.

Shaking Bars' hands off, Grina takes her Splattershot from her back, cocking it.

"GRINA JUMPS RIGHT INTO ACTION!" She runs, diving towards the grates and turning into a Squid in midair.

She swam inside the pipe at high speed, occasionally jumping just slightly, going even faster. At the end of the path, the girl jumps out from the manhole, returning to her previous form.

"All right, you scum!" She looks around the area, frowning. "Return Judd safe and sound, or else I'm gonna dunk you with a truckload of ink!"

Grina saw Mirii looking in a direction upwards. Her iris were shrunk, her mouth was left open.

"What are you looking at, Mirii?" She looks in her same direction.

Grina gasped: in the horizon, there were two purple-colored Inklings… in huge sizes! They were fleering at them: they start walking, as small earthquakes appeared on the ground. The two girls were jumping slightly, unintentionally.

Bars jumps out from the manhole, transforming into his self.

"Oh ship!" He thrusts his weapon on the front.

The giant Inklings stop a bit far from the Rangers.

"Hi there, midgets!" The female one lies her wrist on her hip, while its hand was holding the huge Octoshot. "Did your parents shrunk you down?"

"More like, they took a bath inside a washing machine!" The male one snickers.

Grina frowns, grasping her Splattershot more.

"You think to be the top fresh, just because of your size?! You can't even bend down, without feeling the big weight you are wearing now!"

"Boohoohoo… puh-lease!" She moves her hand down. "You are just salty, because you are so puny and useless!"

"Didn't you mumbled about how having a giant size is a problem?" She holds the trigger of her Charger.

"That's like the opinion of the masses!" The male Inkling folds his arms. "We never thought about it as a weakness, at all!"

"In fact, we used the Growth Ray, created by the Octarians, to give us a little boost while everyone is out for lunch!" The giantess points at a huge device, located in the circular large area, with a look similar to a satellite dish.

"You two must be nuts!" Grina advances with a step. "How can you get back home with those sizes?!"

"The Growth Rays can also return everyone into their original sizes. We don't even need to adjust it perfectly, since it's impossible to shrink down!" The male Inkling smiles, while lowering his eyebrows.

Mirii sighs loudly.

"In other words, once we are done with you three, we'll shrink back down." The female grips her weapon, aiming it over the Rangers. "It's so fun being huge!"

"Not so much when we'll splat you like giant bugs!" Grina roars. "Give us Judd back already!"

"We can't. The Octarians don't have an accurate way to count the ink percentage. Without him, we can't play Turf War matches at all!"

"I wonder where you played those Turf War matches to begin with…" Mirii looks around. "This place is too small and dangerous to play around."

"The matches were held in their city! Or… should I say, one of their floating cities!" The giantess lowers her weapon. "There was a nice park in there, large enough to hold a Turf War match! The Octarians created a system to let us change our ink color with ease!"

"And how did you get down there? With those UFOs we saw around?" Mirii slightly squeezes her eyes.

"Yep! However, they ask us to build a **Teleporter** and hold this terrain for them. With a **Teleporter** , we could reach their city faster and safer." The giant cocks his Octoshot.

"We could… if it wasn't for those meddling bugs, destroying them with their weight!" The giantess re-aims her weapon on the trio.

"That isn't the only thing we will destroy!" Grina shakes her fist, frowning. "We'll send you to the Happy Giant Dreams, while we return home with Judd!"

"I'll see you try that, shorty!" The female Inkling shoots towards the girl.

She rolls away, then quickly stands up, shooting back.

 _BLAM!_

Mirii shot on the giant's knee: he screamed, holding it. The giantess throws a huge Splat Bomb. The trio backs away, before it detonates: Bars got slightly hit from the blast.

"Ow!" He massages his elbow. "That hurts!"

"Cover this place up, big boy! We'll take care of them!" Grina looks at Bars with the corner of her eyes.

He nods, slamming the Roller on the ground, then running along with it. Grina keeps firing at the foes, moving sideways. Her projectiles were landing in front of the giantess's feet. She laughs, firing against the girl.

Grina got hit on the stomach, from one of the large purple projectiles: she yelped, jumping inside the green ink as a Squid.

"Ha ha ha! What's the matter, bug?" The giantess grins as she shoots at Mirii. "You can't hit a huge standing-still target?"

"Look at me!" The giant was shooting towards the ground covered in green ink. "I'm covering almost everything, without even moving an inch!"

"Curses!" Mirii jumps on her right, as purple ink passes near her, while holding down the trigger. "I can't take them down!"

Grina emerges: she growls, frowning.

"Just give up already! You can't go anywhere!" The giant looks at the portion of the ground, mostly surrounded by purple ink.

"No… n-no…" She grits her teeth.

 _Those giant idiots…! There must be a way to defeat them once and for all! But what can I do…? Come on, Grina! Think! I mean… aren't you the Queen of improvisation or something?! I'm sure they must have some weakness I can kick around! ... some…? Actually… eh eh eh, they have a huge one! Ha ha ha ha! So big and dominant, they would fall like old trees! But I can't just go willy-nilly and pretend to be a genius: I need to use some old tricks, again…_

Grina turns down her mouth, looking at the giant Inklings.

"You know what? You spin out my brain!" She opens her arms. "I can no longer hide my big desire to be a giantess again!"

Mirii lowers her eyebrows, as she looks at Grina.

"What are you"

Grina winks at her. Mirii stops talking, then quickly nods.

"Ha! Too bad you can't be one again!" The female Inkling lowers her weapon.

"You better scram now, pests!" He grins. "Or else we are going to exterminate you!"

"Oh my! We will go away in a POOF!" She raises her hands. "Although, there is this little doubt who keeps pulling me back on the scene…"

"What doubt?" She raises one of her eyebrows.

"It's nothing big, really… just a little shaking off from the shoulder!" Grina lowers her weapon.

"Tell us!" The huge girl do a step forward.

"Hey, why are you caring so much?" The giant look at the giantess.

"I want to make sure that she doesn't have the slightest doubt about being big! I mean… what those tiny Inklings can do to us, anyway?"

The giant boy stood in silence.

"All right, shorty!" She holds her hips. "Speak!"

"Thank you for your giant kindness!" She bows down. "I saw you dominating on us so easily, like the biggest champs in the universe! No one can reach your level of awesomeness, no one can have a career as heavy as you two have!"

The two Inklings smiled, looking up.

"That's true! We are invincible!" Her giant eyes sparkled.

"Unstoppable…" He scratches his nose.

"However, there's still this little doubt who keeps biting on the skin…" Grina looks at Bars walking and stopping near her.

"What's it?!" The giantess frowns. "I'll squash it immediately!"

"Well…" She turns in profile, covering her mouth with her hand, smiling and lowering her eyelids. "I never saw you move around, while firing…"

"That wasn't necessary!" The giant steps ahead. "All we need to do is just to shoot you down!"

"But that's so yawn!" Grina shrugs. "I thought that giants were cool enough to move around effortlessly! Did you ever watch those giant monster movies? They win the 100000 meter races without even drenching in sweat!"

The male Inkling raises one eyebrow, leaving his mouth open.

"What does that have"

"OF COURSE WE CAN!" The giantess frowns, shaking her fist on the air. "We can do anything with such size! Even moving around like you would!"

"Then…" She grins. "How about you try to splat us, while moving…? Or are you just two giant sea-chickens…?"

The huge girl gasped, then she cocks her weapon, frowning deeply.

"What do you think you'll get from this?! You'll never beat us, shorty!"

"No wait! This is a"

The giantess walks over the trio, shooting at them: her pace was really slow. Grina jumped on the side, shooting at her legs. The opponent screamed, turning around in a slow motion: the girl wasn't there anymore!

Grina emerged in front of her knees, shooting them!

"STAND STILL, MIDGET!" The giantess growls, shooting in her direction.

 _BLAM!_

Mirii shot on her back. The huge girl stops shooting.

"YEOUCH!" She screams. "WHERE ARE YOU, PARTNER?!"

"Someone is attacking me!" The boy keeps shooting around, towards Bars.

The boy runs in circle, passing the purple projectiles. He jumps, swinging his weapon against the giant: a big pile of ink hit him.

"HOW THIS IS HAPPENING?!" The giantess fires at Grina, each shot hitting the ground.

"Eh eh eh! This was the same lesson I learned, while I was living my giantess experience!" Grina swam over her feet. "Huge and strong as a dragon, yet even slower than a turtle!"

The girl jumps while shooting, hitting her face: the giantess covers her face, yelling. Mirii looks behind: her Ink Tank was glowing. She throws multiple Splat Bombs under the giant's feet. He gasped, stretching a leg for-

 _BOOOM!_

Blasting together, the giant exploded in a huge pile of green ink, flying away as a Squid! Bars' Ink Tank was also glowing. He takes out his Killer Wail and aims at the giantess. The loud sound hit the huge girl, making her explode! She flies away as a Squid.

"YEAH!" Grina jumps, punching the air. "We nailed it, gang!"

Mirii and Bars do a high-five, smiling at each other.

"Let's pay a visit to the giant dumbs!" Grina points at the path, with her thumb.

The trio swim and cover the ground all the way, until they arrived at the large round area. The two flying Squids enter inside a panel: instantly their bodies are reformed!

"Uuuugh…" The giant massages his head.

"Whoa… wh-why we took so long…?" The giantess stretches herself.

 _That's because your little Squid forms are too big to reach your checkpoints in time!_

The two Inklings look down: Grina and Bars were each pointing their weapon against them.

"Grrrrr… why you little"

"A-a-a!" Grina moves her raised forefinger left and right. "Before you ask for a rematch, you should look far behind me…"

The giant Inklings raise their heads: Mirii was looking through her scope, pointing her Charger towards the satellite-dish like device. They gasped.

"Eh eh eh… I think that at this point, you two had enough giant lessons for today… right?" Grina grins.

"N-no! You can't destroy the Growth Machine! I'm sick of being a house!" The giantess breathes rapidly.

"Let us return to our sizes! Please!" The giant clasped his hands.

"Aaaah… wise decision, giant friends!" She folds her arms, shaking her head. "But I can't let you do that, this easily…"

"Wh-what do you want now?!" The huge girl opens her arms.

"Simply give us Judd. I hope you didn't made him barf one single trace of fat."

 _Meow._

Everyone look up: Judd was on all fours, on a beam.

"Aaaaah, here he's! My favorite kitty!" Grina smiles, holding her hips.

Judd jumps towards the giantess.

"Hop!" She catches him. "I guess he got tired of this place…"

"Meow." Judd looks up.

The huge girl sighs, passing the cat to Grina. The girl caresses his back: he purred.

"You have the cat now." The giant frowns slightly. "Can we use the machine now?"

"You bet!" She winks. "How does it work?"

"It's simple!" The giantess points to a lever. "Just pull it down and press the button on the wall.

"Got it!" Grina walks near the lever, followed by Bars. She looks behind: the two giant Inklings stood under the device. The girl pulls down the lever and pushes the button. The satellite-dish sends rays on the duo, shrinking them. They are now in regular sizes.

"Thank you!" The now normal-size girl smiles. "It's so good to be fully back!"

"Wow… it's like I lose a truckload of pounds!" He moves his limbs around.

"I know that feeling, pal!" She grins, as she kept caressing Judd. "I could even tell you about our experience… but time is running out and we must go back to Inkopolis."

"You are Rangers, right?" The purple girl lowers her head slightly.

"Yep! I don't think you'll see Judd around on that red cushion, again… he's going to stay in a much safer place." Grina sighs. "Oh well… ta-ta!"

The girl turns around.

"We know you work for the government!" The male Inkling shouts. "Tell them to open the Turf War Station!"

Grina stops, without turning her back.

"Or else… we are going to attack the Station gates!" He grits his teeth.

"We are going to be numerous! Don't you dare to underestimate us!" The purple girl frowns.

"… all right!" Grina raises her thumb up. "We'll not forget!"

The girl walks away, followed by Bars, then by Mirii: the short girl occasionally looks behind.

"Ha! Look at this victory, guys!" She raises Judd in the air. "We restored the city's balance just in time!"

"While everyone is eating lunch." Mirii closes her eyes, lowering her eyebrows.

A sweat drop appears near Grina, as she lowers her eyelids.

"Thanks for the news, captain Obvious."

"Tsk. This is a good thing, actually. We have all the time to reassure the city, before a crisis would appear." Mirii took another look back.

"We also have time for lunch! Who wants to chew down a giant Cheeseburger with sauces?" She looks up, sticking her tongue.

"Meow." Judd raises his paw.

"Oh… don't you think it's going to be a little too much for you? You are already a giant hamburger!" Grina looks down, raising one of her eyebrows.

The Rangers laugh together.

"Speaking of Judd…" Bars looks at the manhole. "How he's going to fit inside that manhole?"

"He's a cat, Bars." Mirii stops near the grate, looking behind for a moment. "They can fit easily anywhere."

"Really…?" The boy looks at Judd. "He seems larger than my stomach!"

"Just trust of Judd's magic skills…" She caresses his back. "Now, focus on raising that grate up."

"Heh! Time to use some Bars muscles!" He stores his roller on his back.

The boy walks near the grate, gripping the borders with his hands: he tries to pull it up. He was holding his breath, looking up.

"… Bars..." Mirii said, as the boy was changing colors on his face.

"Uff!" He takes away his hands. "Wh-what the Squid?! This thing weights a ton!"

"Let me try this." Mirii walks over the grate.

"Ehm… yo-you aren't strong…" His eyes were glued on her hands.

"That's correct, Bars. However…" Mirii pulls up two small levers, then she raises the grate. "I use my eyes to get around obstacles. Quite effective, don't you think?"

Bars drops his jaw. Grina walks near him, patting on his back.

"You have to admit… sometimes girls just do it better." She grins.

Bars turns his head in her direction, closing his mouth. Grina laughs, patting on more time, leaving out a louder sound.

"Anyway! Cats first!" She stretches out her arms.

Judd jumps from her hands, walking with all his fours towards the sewer. He looks down, seeing nothing but darkness. He jumps in.

The Rangers all walk over the hole, looking inside.

"… did the cat like… passed right through?" Bars looks at Grina.

"You bet he did!" She smiles. "He fits in jars like a pro!"

"Then, let's follow him." Mirii jumps inside, becoming a Squid in midair.

She swam inside the pipes: everything was dark, but Mirii kept moving along. The pipe's walls were drenching with a small quantity of water and a strange odor was remaining in the air. Some parts had minuscule holes, where rays of light pass and rest on the floor.

The girl kept jumping, going even faster than before. The pipe was twisting and turning, until a wall appeared on the front. The light was penetrating from the ceiling, coming in small bits. Looking up, the girl could see the grate, a little rusty.

She jumps out of it, returning into her Inkling form. Looking to her right, she saw the cat grasping the blue trash can, slowly climbing up. The short girl walks over him, picking him up: Judd retreats his claws.

"I'm sorry, Judd." She caresses him. "You can't stay there any longer. You must come with us."

The cat purred, moving his back up. The other two Rangers came from under the grate.

"Yahoo!" Grina rotates her arm, grinning. "Mission accomplished! Rank: SUPER!"

"Yeah! Pure awesomeness!" He thrusts his fist.

 _Pure awesomeness indeed!_

Everyone turn their heads, towards the source of the voice: they immediately saw two female Inkling adults. One was wearing sunglasses and the other one a cap…

"It's good to see you again, numbered friends!" Grina holds her hips. "What did you just said, before…?"

"Agent 1 was confirming your performance…" Agent 2 walks near them, followed by Agent 1. "You were impressive, saving Judd from those Inklings."

"Of course we were!" Grina slightly raises her head, showing her teeth and closing her eyes. "Our meals are always served fast and good… with tons of dust on them!"

"Yeah… no wonder why your enemies never want them!" She sticks out her tongue, slightly squeezing her eyes and lowering her eyebrows.

"You…" Mirii steps forward, hugging Judd. "How can you tell we were good…?"

"We saw you." Agent 2 nods. "As I said, you were impressive."

The Rangers stood in silence, without changing their expressions.

"… something wrong?" Agent 2 holds her chin, lowering her head.

"Ehm… yeah." Grina scratches her head, showing her teeth and looking away for a moment. "You… you couldn't help us, before?"

"You don't have any idea how much I repeated that to myself!" Agent 1 lowers her eyebrows, puffing her cheeks. "But we couldn't do anything about that!"

"Why?" Mirii looks at Agent 2.

"Because that was Mr. Tarfo's orders." Agent 2 coughs. "We aren't allowed to help you out… only to watch your previous fight."

"Why that?" Bars raises one of his eyebrows.

"So we could give you a nice report!" Agent 1 smiles, closing her eyes. "Your rank will sure hit the ceiling, with this one!"

The Rangers jumped, cheering.

"That's indeed fresh news!" Grina raises her thumb up, winking. "But you could still help us, you know… I mean, shark-man would never swam through solid ground and capture all your helping moments!"

"Actually, I was the one who insisted to keep in the rules…" Agent 2 frowns a little. "I wanted to see, if you were up to become real agents. Did you heard that Agents' missions are dangerous…?"

The trio nods.

"Sending rookies would be disastrous. Especially for our reputation…" She looks away, holding her arm.

"But we know you are pros, so nothing will stop you from reaching the very top ranks!" Agent 1 throws her fist up, standing on one leg.

"I think you need check better that ceiling… because we ARE at the very top!" Grina opens her arms, grasping her friends' shoulders. "It's just stupid bureaucracy blocking off our merits…" She said in a low voice.

Agent 2 raises her wrist, looking at her wristwatch.

"It's time to go… please, follow us." Agent 2 turns around.

"Yeah! We finally get to eat lunch!" Agent 1 keeps jumping, clapping.

"Is there a special burger menu for heroic Rangers?" Grina walks ahead, raising her forefinger.

"YOU get to eat one. I'll take a salad." Mirii follows Grina.

"Aw, come on Mirii!" Grina shrugs, turning over. "You need to eat some meat too! How can you grow up, if you keep eating vegetables?"

A vein popped out on Mirii's forehead.

"What did you just say…?" Her eye twitched slightly.

"Something related to your height…?" Grina snickers.

Multiple vein pops out on Mirii's forehead. Smoke was coming out from her ears.

"At least I'm not a cowfish…" She squeezes her eyes slightly.

"Really? Cowfishes eat grass only!" Grina's pace increased a little more.

"Uuuuuuuuuuhhh!" Mirii closes her eyes, gritting her teeth, as she squeezes Judd a little harder. "YOU BETTER RUN, BEFORE I SHRINK YOU INTO DWARF SIZE!"

She runs after Grina, which started to sprint away. The others had a sweat drop each on their heads.


End file.
